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CHICAGO 

THE   GREAT   INDUSTRIAL   AND   COMMERCIAL 
CENTER  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY 


An  Area  with  an  Annual  Tonnage  of 
Twenty-two  Billion  Tons 


By 
George  E.  Plumbe,  A.  B.,  LL.  D, 

Statistician  The  Chicago  Association  of  Commence 


Published  by 

THE  CIVIC-INDUSTRIAL  COMMITTEE  OF  THE 
CHICAGO  ASSOCIATION  OF  COMMERCE 

CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 
1912 


}^  H- 


COPTBIGHT,   1918 
BT 

THE   CHICAGO  ASSOCIATION 
OF  COMMERCE 

AU  Rights  Reserved 


THE  CHICAGO  ASSOCIATION 
OF  COMMERCE 

1912 

OFFICERS 

EUGENE   U.  KIMBARK,  President 
HOWARD  ELTING  JAMES  S.  AGAR 

Vice-Pres.  for  Inter-State  Div.  Vice-Pres.  for  Foreign  Trade  Div. 

WILLIAM  W.  BUCHANAN        ROBERT  E.  KENYON 

Vice-Pres.  fnr  Civic-Industrial  Div.  General  Secretary 

WILLIAM  REISS  FRANK  R.  McMULLIN 

Vice-Pres.  for  Local  Div.  General  Treasurer 


OFFICIAL  STAFF 


GENERAL  DEPARTMENT 
HUBERT  F.  MILLER  WILLIAM  HUDSON  HARPER 

Business  Manager  Editor  Chicago  Commerce 


TRAFFIC  DEPARTMENT 

H.  C.  BARLOW 

Traffic  Director 


CIVIC-INDUSTRIAL  DEPARTMENT 
W.  R.  HUMPHREY  GEO.  E.  PLUMBE 

Industrial  Comnussioner  Statistician 


LOCAL  DEPARTMENT 
GEORGE  M.  SPANGLER,  Jr. 

Mans^er  Bureau  of  Conventions 


F.  C.  ENRIGHT 

Representative,  Cassilla  de  Corrento,  1779,  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina 


242491 


THE  CHICAGO  ASSOCIATION 
OF  COMMERCE 

CIVIC  INDUSTRIAL  COMMITTEE 

1911 

ALBERT  R.  BARNES,  Chairman  HENRY  B.  FAVILL,  M.  D. 

EDWIN  S.  CONWAY  WILLIAM  G.  HIBBARD,  JR. 

HENRY  R.  BALDWIN  ROBERT  SCHUTTLER  HOTZ 

WILLIAM  A.  BOND  DARIUS  MILLER 

WILLIAM  W.  BUCHANAN  CHARLES  D.  RICHARDS 

T.  E.  DONNELLEY  JAMES  H.  VAN  VLISSINGEN 

JOHN  M.  EWEN  CHARLES  H.  WACKER 

W.  R.  HUMPHREY,  Industrial  Commissioner 
GEORGE  E.  PLUMBE,  Statistician 


CIVIC  INDUSTRIAL  COMMITTEE 

1912 

WM.  W.  BUCHANAN,  Chairman 

ALBERT  R.  BARNES  HENRY  B.  FAVILL,  M.  D. 

HENRY  R.  BALDWIN  WILLIAM  G.  HIBBARD,  JR. 

WILLIAM  A.  BOND  ROBERT  S.  HOTZ 

WM.  H.  BUSH  DARIUS  MILLER 

EDWIN  S.  CONWAY  JAMES  A.  PATTEN 

T.  E.  DONNELLEY  CHAS.  D.  RICHARDS 

W.  F.  DUMMER  J.  H.  VAN  VLISSINGEN 

W.  R.  HUMPHREY,  Industrial  Commissioner 
GEORGE  E.  PLUMBE,  Statistician 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


Chapter 

I.  Chicago, 

II.  Chicago, 

III.  Chicago, 

IV.  Chicago, 

V.  Chicago, 

VI.  Chicago, 

VII.  Chicago, 

VIII.  Chicago, 

IX.  Chicago, 

X.  Chicago, 

XI.  Chicago, 

XII.  Chicago, 

XIII.  Chicago, 

XIV.  Chicago, 
XV.  Chicago, 

XVI.  Chicago, 


Page 
Its  Location  and  Growth  ...         9 

Its  Climate  and  Health    .            .            .  .17 

As  a  Central  Market        .            .            .  .29 

Its  Supply  of  Raw  Material  .41 

Its  Industrial  Expansion  .                        .  .49 

Its  Industrial  Districts     .            .            .  .61 

Its  Transportation  Facilities       .            .  .65 

Its  Intramural  Transit  .77 

Its  Business  Utilities                                .  .85 

Its  Association  of  Commerce      .           .  .97 

Its  Labor  Supply              .            .            .  .101 

Its  Wage  Earners  and  their  Wages  .109 

As  a  City  of  Homes          .                       .  .115 

Its  Economical  Living      .           .            .  .123 

Its  Ethical  and  Educational  Advantages  129 

Its  Plan  for  a  New  Citv  .           .           .  .137 


INDEX  TO  MAPS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railway  System  (Santa  Fe) 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  System 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  Chicago  Terminal  R.  R. 

Belt  Railway  of  Chicago  .... 

Big  Four  (Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ry.) 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Lines. 

Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  R.  R. 

Chicago  Great  Western  R.  R. 

Chicago,  Indiana  &  Southern  R.  R. 

Chicago,  Indianapolis  &  Louisville  Ry.  (Monon)    . 

Chicago  Junction  Ry.        .... 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry. 

Chicago  Outer  Belt  Line  (Elgin,  Joliet  &  Eastern  Ry.) 

Chicago  River  &  Indiana  R.  R.     . 

Chicago  River  &  Indiana  R.  R.  Boat  House 

Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railway  System  (Rock  Island 

Chicago,  Terre  Haute  &  Southeastern  Ry.. 

Chicago  Union  Transfer  Ry. 

Chicago,  West  Pullman  &  Southern  R.  R. 

Chicago  &  Alton  R.  R.      . 

Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  R.  R. 

Chicago  &  IlHnois  Western  R.  R. 

Chicago  &  North  Western  Ry.      .  .         -    . 

Chicago  &  North  Western  Ry.  Passenger  Station 

Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  R.  R. 

Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ry.  (Big  Four) 

District  Map  of  Chicago  .... 

Elgin,  Joliet  &  Eastern  Ry.  (Chicago  Outer  Belt  Line) 

Erie  R.  R. 

Grand  Trunk  Ry.  .... 

Illinois  Central  R.  R.        . 

Illinois  Northern  Ry.         .... 

Illinois  Tunnel  Co.  .  .  •  . 

Indiana  Harbor  Belt  R.  R. 

Isotherms  of  40,  50  and  60  degrees 

Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ry.  (Terminal) 

Manufacturers  Junction  Ry. 

Manufacturing  Zone  of  Chicago    .  .  .  , 

Michigan  Central  R.  R.  (Terminal) 

Minneapolis,  St.  Paul  &  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Ry.  (Soo  Line) 

Monon  (Chicago,  Indianapolis  &  Louisville  Ry.)    . 

New  York,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  R.  R.  (Nickle  Plate) 

Nickle  Plate  (New  York,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  R.  R.) 

Pennsylvania  Railroad  System 

Pere  Marquette  R.  R.       . 

Rock  Island  Lines  (Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Ry.) 

Santa  Fe  (Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.) 

Soo  Line  (Minneapolis,  St.  Paul  &  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Ry.) 

Wabash  R.  R.      . 


Lines) 


Page 

14 

22 

24 

27 

86 

30 

34 

38 

42 

46 

50 

54 

90 

50 

opposite  120 

58 

62 

66 

70 

74 

76 

80 

82 

opposite  12 

27 

86 

144 

90 

92 

98 

102 

106 

94 

110 

18 

opposite  134 

114 

143 

opposite  135 

118 

46 

124 

124 

128 

130 

58 

14 

118 

138 


PREAMBLE 


THIS  volume  is  an  enlarged,  corrected 
and  amended   edition  of  a  similar 
publication  issued  two  years  ago  by 
the    Civic    Industrial    Committee  of   the 
Chicago  Association  of  Commerce. 

As  far  as  possible  it  includes  the  latest 
data  relating  to  manufacturing  in  Chicago 
which  will  be  fully  embodied  in  the  reports 
of  the  Thirteenth  Census,  which  was  taken 
subsequently  to  the  publication  of  the 
former  volume. 

In  the  departments  of  trade,  commerce, 
finance,  navigation,  transportation  effi- 
ciency and  other  subjects,  the  statistics  are 
brought  down  to  the  present  year.  There 
is  no  exaggeration,  the  simple  facts  being 
sufficiently  marvelous. 

Chicago  has  made  rapid  advances  in 
every  department  of  its  activities,  as  well 
as  in  growth  in  population,  in  the  past  two 
years.  Its  supremacy  as  the  great  indus- 
trial, commercial  and  financial  center  of 
the  Mississippi  valley — an  area  exceeding 
in  extent  five  times  that  of  both  France  and 
Germany — is  assured  beyond  all  question. 

G.  E.  P. 


ITS  LOCATION  AND  GROWTH 


Chicago— Its  Location  and  Growth 

The  story  is  told  that  during  the  presidency  of  General  Wash- 
ington he  held  a  consultation  with  General  Wayne,  commanding 
the  Army  of  the  United  States,  for  considering  the  best  means  for 
affording  the  settlers  protection  against  Indian  raids  and  the  fron- 
tier from  incursions  by  the  British  by  way  of  Canada  and  the 
Great  Lakes.  While  examining  the  map  the  president  placed  his 
finger  at  the  mouth  of  Chicago  river  and  said :  "There  will  eventu- 
ally be  the  centre  of  population,  commerce  and  trade  of  the  conti- 
nent." Whether  or  not  this  story  is  authentic,  it  is  a  fact  that 
this  point  was  selected  by  him  and  General  Wayne  as  the  site  of 
the  fort  which  was  erected  in  1803  during  Jefferson's  administra- 
tion, while  General  Dearborn  was  Secretary  of  War,  burned  in 
1812,  rebuilt  in  1816,  and  was  occupied  as  a  military  post  until 
1837,  the  year  Chicago  was  incorporated  as  a  city.  Early  explorers 
like  Nicolet,  in  1634,  and  Joliet  and  Marquette,  some  forty  years 
later,  had  the  foresight  to  comprehend  the  natural  advantages 
that  clustered  ab^ut  the  mouth  of  the  sluggish  stream^^and  the 
importance  of  their  development  as  a  highway  of  commerce,  bj^. 
tween  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Gulf  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Thaf 
Washington  knew  of,  and  was  influenced  by,  the  reports  of  the 
early  explorers  can  hardly  be  questioned. 

In  1809,  when  Illinois  was  organized  as  a  territory,  its  northern 
boundary  was  projected  due  west  from  the  southern  extremity  of 
Lake  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi  river,  which  line  crossed  the  Des 
Plaines  river  near  Lockport  and  put  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago 
river  within  the  limits  of  Wisconsin.  When,  however,  the  terri- 
tory of  Illinois  applied  for  admission  to  the  Union  as  a  State, 
Nathaniel  Pope,  who  was  the  territorial  delegate  in  Congress  from 
Illinois,  persuaded  Congress  to  shift  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
State  to  its  present  location,  in  order  that  Illinois  should  have  a 
coast  line  on  Lake  Michigan,  and  also  that  the  great  water  route 
from  the  lake  to  the  Mississippi,  which  had  even  then  been  pro- 
posed and  made  the  subject  of  congressional  legislation,  should  be 
included  within  the  confines  of  a  single  State.  This  argument  re- 
sulted in  the  location  of  the  northern  boundary  as  it  exists  at  pres- 
ent, Un  spite  of  violent  and  belligerent  protest  and  opposition  of 
Wisconsin. 


,) 


10  CHICAGO: 


r^  There  is  nothing  anomalous  in  the  fact  that  in  every  civilized 
country  on  the  globe,  Chicago,  as  a  city,  is  regarded  as  the  marveL 
of  the  century.  That  a  municipality  not  yet  75  years  of  age  should 
have  oustripped  in~growth  of  population;  in  the  massiveness  and 
solidity  of  its  commercial  buildings;  in  the  extent  and  variety  of 
its  industrial  development ;  in  the  number  and  stability  of  its  finan- 
cial institutions;  in  the  magnitude  and  high  standing  of  its  schools, 
colleges  and  universities;  in  the  matchless  reach  of  its  railway 
facilities ;  in  the  importance  of  its  trade  and  commerce ;  in  the  beauty 
and  extent  of  its  parks  and  boulevards;  in  the  abundance  of  every 
natural  product  that  makes  living  a  comfort  and  delight ;  in  the  resolute 
and  energetic  character  of  its  inhabitants  which  enabled  them  to 
recover  from  the  disastrous  conflagrations  of  1839,  1849,  1857,  and 
that  of  1871,  which  swept  away  $200,000,000  worth  of  property;  that 
Chicago  should  have  accomplished  all  of  this,  and,  within  the  lifetime 
of  many  of  its  citizens,  become  the  fourth  in  size  of  the  world's 
civilized  cities,  surpassing  many  of  those  that  have  been,  for  centuries 
the  commercial  and  financial  centers  of  the  world's  trade,  industries 

\  and  wealth — this  makes  Chicago  the  marvel  of  all  the  ages. 

And  yet  Chicago  is  only  in  its  infahcy=^s  greatness  is  beyond 

fhe  power  of  anticipation. 
There  was  no  chance  or  fortunate  circumstance  that  determined  the 
location  of  a  great  city  near  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan. 
The  power  that  created  the  chain  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  made  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  covering  the  vast  expanse  of  territory  between 
the  Allegheny  and  Rocky  Mountains,  with  16,000  miles  of  navigable 
internal  water  courses,  designated  the  center  of  that  region  as  the  site 
of  a  great  metropolis.  The  location  of  the  city  was  one  that  no  person 
of  reasonable  judgment  would  have  selected  for  such  an  occupancy. 
With  bluff  shores  along  the  lake  for  miles  North  of  the  city,  Chicago 
was  placed  in  a  sedgy  marsh,  the  chief  products  of  which  were  chills 
and  fevers,  avoided  even  by  the  nomadic  bands  of  Potto wattomies 
who  pitched  their  tepees  on  the  elevation  west  of  the  mouth  of  the 
estuary  that  is  now  the  Chicago  river. 

The  French  voyagers,  Joliet,  La  Salle  and  Marquette,  240  years 
ago  read  the  prophecy  which  time  has  since  verified,  and  each  year 
following  their  day  the  necessity  for  a  metropolis  where  Chicago 

«now  stands  has  been  emphasized.  Chicago_is  the  product  of  necessity 
having  for  its  basis  the  needs  of  a  developing  continent.  In  response 
f|  to  that  exigency  Chicago  has  grown  in  spite  of  obstacles  and  calamities 
[   such  as  no  city  on  the  globe  has  been  forced  to  contend  against. 


ITS  LOCATION  AND  GROWTH.  11 

The  voluntary  movement  of  the  people  has  been  invariably  gov- 
erned by  natural  laws.  They  have  moved  from  East  to  West  and 
very  rarely  departing  from  the  isothermal  lines  of  their  places  of 
nativity.  The  tide  of  emigration  has  been  retarded  here  and  deflected 
there,  as  the  result  of  easily  discovered  causes,  but  the  advance  of 
people  in  their  evolution  towards  civilization  has  been  towards  the 
setting  sun.  The  trend  of  population  in  the  United  States  for  one 
and  a  half  centuries  has  closely  followed  these  laws  of  racial  move- 
ments. 

In  1790  when  the  first  census  of  the  United  States  was  taken  the 
center  of  population  was  a  point  twenty-three  miles  East  of  Balti- 
more, but  with  each  succeeding  enumeration  this  point  has  moved 
steadily  westerly  at  an  average  rate  of  forty-eight  miles  for  each 
decade  until  the  last  census  (1910)  it  reached  a  point  in  the  western 
part  of  the  city  of  Bloomington  in  Monroe  County,  Indiana.  The 
tenacity  with  which  this  center  of  population  has  held  fast  to  the  thirty- 
ninth  parallel  of  latitude  is  remarkable.  Since  1790  it  has  varied 
not  to  exceed  twenty-one  miles  from  that  line.  This  movement  of 
population  is  almost  unerringly  towards  the  central  point  of  the  conti- 
nental area  of  the  country,  which  is  in  Northern  Kansas,  ten  miles 
North  of  Smith  Center,  county  seat  of  Smith  County,  fifty-one  miles 
North  and  657  miles  West  of  the  present  center  of  population^  which  \ 
is  almost  forty  miles  East  and  190  miles  Southeasterly  from  Chicago.  ^ 
The  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal,  for  the  387  miles  between  Buffalo 
and  Troy,  in  1826,  very  greatly  stimulated  the  Western  movement 
of  an  agrarian  population  from  the  rugged  hills  of  New  England  and 
Pennsylvania  to  the  fertile  prairies  of  Illinois ;  the  movement  naturally 
taking  the  waterways  as  presenting  the  course  of  least  resistance.  ^ 
This  concourse  was  made  up  of  English,  Celts  and  Teutons,  with 
a  sprinkling  of  Scandinavians,  which  made  the  best  material  in  the 
world  out  of  which  to  form  a  state  or  municipal  government. 

The  crops  grown  on  these  prairies  demanded  an  outlet  to  the 
Atlantic  Seaboard,  the  only  possible  market  for  the  products  of  the 
West  and  the  only  section  from  which  the  sturdy  settlers  could  1 
procure  the  fabrics,  wares  and  provisions  which  they  were  unable  to  i 
produce  at  home.  No  one  influence  contributed  so  greatly  to  the 
development  of  the  West  and  its  growth  of  population  as  the  invention 
of  agricultural  machinery,  which  not  only  increased  the  volume  of 
farm  products,  but  relieved  a  large  number  of  the  people  to  enter 
the  many  gainful  pursuits  which  were  demanded  by  the  rapidly 
increasing  population.     For  centuries  wheat  had  been  the  principal 


> 


12  CHICAGO: 


article  of  food  and  during  all  these  years  the  only  means  of  planting 
the  grain  was  by  hand  sowing,  the  means  of  harvesting  the  crop  was 
the  straight  knife,  the  reaping  hook  and  the  cradle,  and  the  implement 
for  separating  the  berry  from  the  stalk  was  the  flail.  A  century 
ago  it  required  over  90  per  cent  of  the  population  to  raise  the  food 
for  the  people.  Progress  was  at  a  standstill.  A  people  cannot  build 
cities,  canals  and  railroads  so  long  as  nearly  all  their  energies  and 
time  are  demanded  for  digging  from  the  soil  barely  enough  food 
to  sustain  life,  nor  would  it  require  railroads  and  canals  to  transport 
the  small  yields  of  grain  to  a  market.  But  the  harvesters  invented  in 
1831  and  first  manufactured  in  Chicago  in  1841  in  which  year  two 
reapers  were  sold,  and  seven  were  disposed  of  the  year  following. 
The  invention  of  the  gang  plow,  the  threshing  machine,  the  grain 
drill  and  seeder,  the  manure  spreader  and  others  soon  followed.  The 
result  is  that  today  there  are^jnanufactured  in  Chicago  annually 
360,000  reapers  and  other  labor-saving  appliances  in  proportion,  so 
that  now  only  33  per  cent  of  the  population  is  required  to  do  what  a 
century  ago  demanded  the  labor  of  over  90  per  cent  of  the  people. 
The  labor  now  required  to  raise  a  bushel  of  wheat,  reduced  to  time, 
is  about  ten  minutes.  These  improved  methods  of  agriculture  did 
more  to  stimulate  immigration  to  the  west,  to  necessitate  the  con- 
struction of  railroads  and  canals  for  the  movement  of  the  products 
of  the  soil  and  to  the  erection  of  industrial  establishments  than  any 
or  all  causes  combined.  Among  other  facilities  for  transportation, 
the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  from  Chicago  to  Peru,  was  built  at 
a  cost  of  $6,507,681  and  opened  for  traffic  April  10th,  1848.  As  to 
the  value  of  this  canal  Mr.  Brainerd,  Canal  Commissioner  of  the 
State,  reported  in  1885,  that  during  the  37  years  that  it  had  then  been 
in  operation  it  had  saved  the  people  of  Illinois  $180,000,000  in  freight 
charges  alone. 

Moses  Kirkland  in  his  "History  of  Chicago,"  page  1 19,  says :  "At 
the  beginning  of  that  year  (1848)  Chicago  had  neither  railroads  nor 
canal  nor  any  other  means  of  communication  with  the  outer  world 
than  by  wheeled  vehicles  and  vessels  on  Lake  Michigan.  ...  It 
could  boast  of  no  sewers  nor  were  there  any  sidewalks  except  a  few 
planks  here  and  there,  nor  paved  streets.  The  streets  were  merely 
graded  to  the  middle,  like  country  roads,  and  in  bad  weather,  were 
impassable.  A  mud  hole  deeper  than  usual  would  be  marked  by  sign- 
boards with  the  significant  notice  thereon,  'No  bottom  here,  the 
shortest  road  to  China.*  There  was  no  gas,  and  water  continued  to 
be  supplied  from  carts  by  the  bucketful.     There  were  no  omnibuses, 


I 


s. 

6 


ITS  LOCATION  AND  GROWTH.  13 

cabs,  nor  horse  cars,  nor  cars  of  any  kind,  much  less  telegraph  and 
telephones.  Wabash  Avenue,  between  Adams  and  Jackson  Streets, 
was  regarded  as  out  of  town,  where  wolves  were  occasionally  seen 
prowling  about." 

The  era  of  railroad  construction  in  the  West  immediately  followed 
this  increased  population  and  the  multiplication  of  industrial  enter- 
prises. The  Galena  and  Chicago  Union  Railroad  was  opened  to  Elgin 
in  January,  1850;  to  Belvidere,  December  3rd,  1852,  and  to  Freeport 
in  1853.  The  Chicago  and  Burlington  Railroad  was  opened  to  Burling- 
ton, Iowa,  in  1855,  and  to  Quincy,  111.,  in  1856.  The  first  road  to  enter 
Chicago  from  the  East  was  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern 
in  February,  1852,  and  the  Michigan  Central  Railroad  in  May  of  the 
same  year.  Next  came  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific,  which 
was  completed  to  Joliet  in  1853  and  to  Rock  Island  in  1854.  In  \ 
rapid  succession  came  the  Chicago  and  Alton,  the  Chicago  and  Mil- 
waukee, and  the  Pittsburgh,  Ft.  Wayne  and  Chicago. 

The  manufacturing  industries  in  Chicago  in  1848  were  still  in 
their  infancy  and  the  value  of  the  entire  product  in  1850  was  returned 
at  $3,562,583  on  an  invested  capital  of  $1,086,025.  During  the  next 
six  years  the  value  had  expanded  to  $15,513,063  on  a  capital  of 
$7,759,400,  while  the  number  of  employes  increased  from  2,081  to 
10,573.  The  panic  of  1857  was  disastrous  to  Chicago  and  no  improve- 
ment was  shown  until  1860,  when  under  the  stimulus  of  the  war  the 
growth  was  phenomenal.  y 

In  1910  the  industrial  development  of  Chicago  had  so  enlarged/ 
that  the  establishments  numbered  9,656,  capitalized  as  $971,841,000;  \ 
employing  293,977  wage  earners  who  received  in  wages  $174,112,000, 
and  turned  out  as  finished  product  goods  valued  at  $1,281,171,000./ 
The  wage  earners  in  Chicago's  industrial  plants  in  1910  exceeded  the  | 
total  population  of   either  Jersey   City,    N.   J.;   Kansas   City,   Mo.;   j 
Louisville,  Ky.;  Indianapolis,  Ind. ;  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  Seattle,  Wash.;   j 
Denver,  Colo. ;  Portland,  Ore. ;  Providence,  R.  I.,  or  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
If  we  add  to  this  the  number  of  those  engaged  in  the  various  trades — 
carpenters,  masons,  blacksmiths  and  the  like — clerks  in  public  and 
private  offices  and  stores,   railroad  employes  and  the  vast  army  of 
day  and  common  laborers,  some  idea  may  be  acquired  of  the  present 
industrial  activity  of  this  city. 

The  following  table  shows  the  growth  of  the  city  in  population. 
In  1823  Chicago  is  described  as  "a  village  in  Pike  County  containing 


/ 


14 


CHICAGO : 


ITS  LOCATION  AND  GROWTH. 


15 


12  or  15  houses,  and  about  60  or  75  inhabitants."  The  first  govern- 
ment census  was  taken  in  1840,  which  gives  the  earliest  official  data 
as  to  population. 


1835*    3,297 

1840 4,470 

1850   : 29,963 

1860    109,260 

1870    298,977 

*State  Census. 
tEstimated. 


1880 503,185 

1890 1,099,850 

1900  1,689,575 

1910 2,185,283 

1912  t2,284,378 


Building  operations  have  not  fallen  behind  in  increase  of  popula- 
tion. The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  buildings,  the  frontage 
and  cost  of  construction  for  each  year  since  1900 : 


Year 

Number  of  Buildings 

Feet  Frontage 

Cost 

1900 

3,554 

100,056 

$19,100,050 

1901 

6,035 

170,644 

34,911,770 

1902 

6,074 

186,609 

48,070,395 

1903 

6,135 

174,932 

33,645,025 

1904 

7,132 

203,785 

44,596,090 

1905 

8,337 

243,485 

63,455,020 

1906 

10,447 

276,770 

64,298,335 

1907 

9,338 

253,993 

59,065,080 

1908 

10,771 

291,655 

68,204,080 

1909 

11,241 

310,351 

90,509,580 

1910 

11,409 

327,250 

96,932,700 

1911 

11,106 

299,032 

105,269,700 

Y 


16 


CHICAGO : 


BUILDINGS  ERECTED  IN  1910  AND  1911— KIND, 
NUMBER  AND  VALUATION 


1910 

1911 

Kind  of  Building 

No. 

Valuation 

No. 

Valuation 

Residences 

Flats 

Stores 

Factories 

Warehouses 

Office  Buildings 

Churches 

Theatres 

Schools 

Stations  and  depots. . 

Hospitals 

Hotels 

Garages 

Miscellaneous 

3,075 

4,362 

1,327 

157 

98 

45 

32 

42 

35 

10 

6 

5 

23 

2,192 

$  8,379,300 

34,372,500 

6,599,700 

5,816,000 

4,951,000 

16,461,500 

1,058,500 

1,091,500 

3,354,000 

256,500 

277,000 

330,000 

356,000 

13,629,200 

2,989 

4,599 

1,093 

143 

74 

48 

29 

65 

20 

7 

7 

13 

34 

1,985 

S  8,535,500 

36,401,000 

7,593,000 

6,487,000 

3,669,000 

23,101,000 

742,500 

1,261,500 

2,400,000 

138,000 

702,000 

4,190,000 

350,000 

9,699,200 

Total 

11,409 

96,932,700 

11,106 

$105,269,700 

ITS   CLIMATE  AND   HEALTH.  17 

//. 

Chicago— Its  Climate  and  Health 

Climate  is  the  principal  determinating  factor  that  directs  and  con- 
trols trade  and   commerce,   because   of   its  close  relation  to  public 
health  and  mortality.     Climate  and  weather  are  by  no  means  syn- 
onymous terms.     Climate  "is  the  combined  average  result  of  varied 
conditions   of    atmosphere    as    regards   temperature   and   moisture," 
while  weather  denotes  "the  purely  local  and  temporary  conditions  of 
temperature  and  moisture  at  any  given  place  and  time."    Both  trade 
and  commerce  have  invariably  followed  the  line  of  equable  tempera- 
ture.    Isotherms,  or  lines  drawn  across  a  continent  through  places 
having  the  same  average  mean  temperature,  vary  greatly  as  compared 
with  parallels  of  latitude.    For  instance,  a  line  drawn  through  places 
having  a  winter,  or  January,  mean  temperature  of  40  degrees  passes 
from  Behring  Sea  through  Alaska  and  the  southern  section  of  British 
Columbia,   entering  the  United   States   near  Medicine  Hat,   and   is 
deflected  so  as  to  pass  through  Duluth,  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Georgian 
Bay  and  Montreal  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.     The  line  of  50  i  _ 
degrees,  or  average  annual  mean  temperature, — ^the  line  of  equable  ;  i/^tpi^u 
climate — starts   at   Puget   Sound,   is   deflected   to  the   South   by   the  ^^^y.^^' 
Cascade  Mountains  and  Sierra  Nevada  range,  which  turns  the  warm/    i/'^l^, 
currents  of  the  Pacific  southerly;  passes  through  New  Mexico,  south  /  J 
of  Santa  Fe ;  makes  a  sharp  detour  around  the  southern  extremity  / 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada  range  to  the  north  nearly  to  Denver,  thence  ( 
east  through  Omaha,  Davenport,  La  Salle  (just  south  of  Chicago)  I 
to  Toledo  thence  almost  due  east,  reaching  Long  Island  Sound  midway  ' 
between  New  York  and  New  Haven;  thence  following  the  Atlantic   : 
Gulf  Stream,  to  the  British  Isles,  across  France,  Germany,  Austria  / 
and  Asia  to  Northern  Japan. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  influence  of  the  warm  currents  of  the 
Pacific  and  Atlantic  oceans  upon  the  climaie  of  the  continents.  The 
current  that  flows  from  the  Southern  Pacific  north  is  deflected  to  the 
east  by  the  Aleutian  Islands  to  the  Alaskan  coast,  the  result  being 
that  the  average  mean  temperature  of  Sitka,  Alaska,  is  exactly  that 
of  St.  Paul,  Minn.  On  the  Atlantic  coast  the  Gulf  stream  gives  the 
British  Isles  the  same  climate  that  Massachusetts  enjoys,  although  they 
are  due  east  of  the  barren  coast  of  Labrador.  Without  that  stream 
those  islands  would  be  ice  bound  eight  months  of  the  year  and  incapa- 
ble of  being  the  abode  of  a  civilized  people. 


18 


CHICAGO 


ITS   CLIMATE  AND  HEALTH.  19 

It  is  true  that  man  can  make  his  home  in  any  zone,  but  the  regions 
of  low  temperature  are  either  uninhabited  or  sparsely  settled  like 
Labrador,  while  those  of  low  temperature  are  not  so  densely  populated 
as  the  temperate  zones.  The  climatic  conditions  in  New  England, 
situated  between  the  low  temperature  of  Northern  Canada  and  the 
warmer  area  south  of  the  Ohio  river  and  Chesapeake  Bay,  was  a 
recognized  power  in  stimulating  the  early  economic  development  of 
the  thirteen  colonies  which  prepared  them  for  the  conflict  that  resulted 
in  the  political  autonomy  of  the  United  States. 

Climatic  conditions  also  produce  vast  differences  in  national  char- 
acter.    The  people  of  Southern  China  are  more  irresponsible  and 
inconstant  than  their  brothers  in  Northern  China;  the  Southern  Rus- 
sian is  more  flippant  than  the  same  race  further  north;  the  same 
distinction  is  noticeable  between  the  people  of  Northern  and  Southern 
Germany,  and  between  the  Italians  of  the  Alpine  slope  and  those  in 
Southern  Italy.    In  our  own  country  the  people  of  the  Northern 
states  are  more  energetic  and  progressive  than  those  of  the  milder 
sections  of  the  South,  and  even  workmen  going  from  the  North  to 
the  South  soon  experience  the  depressing  effect  of  short,  mild  Winters 
and  long,  hot  Summers.     The  iron  and  steel  industries  located  at  . 
Birmingham,    Ala.,    find   that   these   climatic   conditions    reduce   the) 
efficiency  of  their  skilled  labor,  which  is  mainly  imported  from  the  1 
Northern  states. 

That  Chicago  is  located  on  the  line  of  equable  temperature,  where  \ 
extremes  are  less  frequent,  rain  fall  ample  and  where  all  varieties  of    ', 
industry  can  be  carried  on  with  the  minimum  of  disturbance  from 
climatic  influences,  is  the  prime  factor  in  its  astonishing  development     j 
as  the  industrial  and  commercial  center  of  the  country. 

It  is  the  line  along  which  the  leading  markets  of  the  world  are\ 
located.  It  is  also  the  region  where  the  death  rate  is  lowest,  where  1 
pestilence  is  less  frequent  and  where  the  soil  gives  the  greatest  variety  j 
of  products.  In  the  United  States  all  the  area  having  a  population  of  I 
from  45  to  90  per  square  mile  is  located  along  this  line  and  east  of  the  / 
95th  Meridian,  while  west  of  that  parallel  such  density  is  attained  ; 
only  in  isolated  and  small  spots,  like  the  vicinity  of  Portland,  Oregon,  j 
and  San  Francisco,  California,  with  a  small  area  at  Denver,  Colorado.  / 

Most  of  the  manufacturing  in  the  United  States  is  carried  on  in  the  \ 
northern  half  of  the  section  east  of  the  90th  Meridian,  and  north  of     ' 
the  37th  degree  of  north  latitude,  which  is  due  chiefly  to  larger  popu-      - 
lation,  great  variety  of  food  products  grown,  the  profusion  of  raw     \ 
materials  and  uniform  fertility  of  soil,  with  adequate  rain  fall  and  an     j 


20  CHICAGO: 


equable  temperature.  South  of  that  line  industrial  enterprise  has 
been  principally  confined  to  the  manufacture  of  home  grown  products, 
like  sugar,  from  the  sugar  cane,  turpentine,  lumber  and  semi-tropical 
fruits  and  vegetables,  until  in  recent  years,  the  people  of  that  section 
have,  with  considerable  success,  encouraged  the  spinning  and  weaving 
of  cotton  fabrics  and  the  working  of  their  coal  and  iron  mines. 
Industrial  enterprises  have  otherwise  very  generally  remained  sta- 
tionary while  in  the  north  they  have  moved  westward  and  increased 
with  the  population. 

A  few  years  ago  more  than  one-half  of  the  implements  used  in 
agriculture  in  the  United  States,  were  made  in  New  York  and  Ohio, 
but  the  movement  of  population  to  the  West  and  the  resultant 
growth  of  agricultural  development  therein  have  carried  this  industry 
westerly  with  such  progress  that  today  nearly  one-half  of  the  farming 
implements  produced  in  the  entire  country  are  made  in  the  state  of 
Illinois.  They  can  be  made  cheaper  here  than  in  the  East  and  the 
saving  in  transportation  to  meet  the  demand  nearer  the  center  of 
population  is  an  important  item  in  establishing  the  price  to  the  con- 
sumer for  such  machinery  and  implements. 

Another  influence  that  has  stimulated  the  growth  of  manufacturing 
in  the  West  is  the  natural  tendency  of  immigration  from  Northern 
Europe  to  come  to  this  section  on  landing  in  the  country.  Races 
are  governed  in  their  migrations  by  exactly  the  same  laws  that  control 
the  distribution  of  plants  and  rarely  is  either  found  far  north  or  south 
of  the  climatic  zone  in  which  they  originated.  Only  about  five  per  cent 
of  the  population  of  the  United  States  are  located  oflf  their  native 
isotherm.  A  New  Englander,  Swede  or  Norwegian  is  about  as  rarely 
to  be  found  in  Texas  as  is  a  Carolinian,  Frenchman  or  Spaniard  is  to 
be  met  in  Minnesota  or  North  Dakota.  Hence  the  colonists  from 
Northern  Central  Europe  have  come  directly  West.  The  Swedes, 
Norwegians,  Germans,  English,  Scotch,  Irish,  and  all  the  like  have  set- 
tled in  the  North  Mississippi  Valley  rather  than  at  the  South.  This 
natural  movement  has  been  encouraged  by  the  fact  that  the  ports  of 
entry  for  commerce  between  the  United  States  and  Europe  are  along 
the  North  Atlantic  coast.  The  inlets  upon  which  these  ports  were 
located,  between  Maine  and  Virginia,  and  particularly  in  Massachu- 
setts, New  York,  Delaware  and  Chesapeake  Bay,  being  the  best  har- 
bors and  nearest  to  foreign  markets,  have  controlled  not  only  the 
movements  of  goods  and  merchandise  of  various  kinds,  but  also  the 
transit  of  passengers  between  the  two  continents.  This  has  given 
the  West  the  best,  most  vigorous  and  laborious  foreign  population. 


ITS   CLIMATE  AND   HEALTH.  21 

which  came  to  America  for  homes,  and  has  accomplished  a  vast  deal 
in  accelerating  the  industrial  growth  of  the  West. 

While  it  is  an  established  fact  that  climate  and  a  temperature  that 
is  not  subject  to  violent  and  sudden  changes,  are  most  conducive  to 
public  health  and  low  rate  of  mortality,  the  study  of  the  relations 
between  the  two  have  considerably  changed  and  modified  the  con- 
clusions formerly  regarded  as  scientifically  establishted.  The  old 
theory  held  that  the  weather  of  the  year  was  made  up  of  several 
distinct  climates,  differing  from  each  other  according  to  temperature 
and  moisture  and  their  relations  to  each  other,  might  be  divided  into 
six  distinct  climates,  characterized  respectively  by  cold,  cold  and 
dryness,  dryness  with  heat,  heat,  heat  with  moisture,  and  cold  with 
moisture.  The  mortality  from  all  causes  and  in  all  ages  shows  a 
large  excess  above  the  average  from  the  middle  of  November  to  the 
middle  of  April,  from  which  it  falls  to  the  minimum  in  the  end  of 
May;  then  it  slowly  rises,  and,  on  the  third  week  in  July  it  suddenly 
shoots  up  to  almost  as  high  as  the  winter  maximum  of  the  year,  at 
which  it  remains  till  the  second  week  in  August,  falling  thence  as 
rapidly  as  it  rose,  to  a  second  minimum  in  October. 

The  deductions  from  this  theory  was  that  cold  and  moist  v^eather 
is  attended  with  a  high  death  rate  from  rheumatism,  heart  diseases, 
diphtheria,  measles;  cold  weather,  from  bronchitis  and  pneumonia; 
cold  and  dry  weather,  from  brain  diseases,  whooping  cough  and  con- 
vulsions; warm  and  dry  weather,  from  suicide  and  small  pox;  hot 
weather,  from  bowel  disorders ;  and  warm  moist  weather,  from  scarlet 
and  typhoid  fevers. 

The  study  of  sanitary  conditions,  mode  of  living  and  the  use  of 
uncontaminated  water  for  domestic  purposes  and  pure  air  in  dwellings, 
has  very  greatly  modified  preconceived  opinions.  In  a  general  way  it 
may  be  regarded  as  established,  that  the  indirect  effects  of  hot  and 
cold  weather  are  much  more  important  factors  in  the  death  rate  than 
the  direct  effects.  For  instance,  the  impure-air  diseases,  pneumonia, 
bronchitis,  tuberculosis  and  influenza,  are  much  more  active  in  cold 
weather  than  in  warm  weather — not  directly  caused  by  the  cold,  but 
rather  indirectly,  by  reason  of  people  shutting  themselves  up  in  their 
houses  and  work-places,  sacrificing  necessary  ventilation  to  the  main- 
tenance of  a  comfortable  temperature.  The  breathing  of  vitiated  air 
means  the  lowering  of  one's  disease-resisting  powers.  The  practice 
of  breathing  bad  air  is  much  more  general  in  winter  than  at  any  other 
season  of  the  year,  therefore,  our  physical  conditions  are  then  the 
lowest  and  the  death  rates  from  air-borne  diseases  are  then  the  high- 
est.    Then,  in  hot  weather,  the  diarrheal  diseases  kill  more  people, 


CHICAGO : 


ITS  CLIMATE  AND  HEALTH.  23 


chiefly  babies,  than  any  other  cause  of  death— not  directly,  but  indi- 
rectly through  the  effects  of  the  heat  upon  the  babies'  food.  Aside 
from  these  two  important  groups  of  disease  we  have  made  no  extended 
studies  of  the  relationship  between  the  prevalence  of  certain  diseases 
and  meteorologic  conditions. 

There  are  local  conditions  in  Chicago  that  contribute  in  a  very  \ 
marked  degree  to  the  salubrity  of  the  city  by  modifying  its  extremes  \ 
of  temperature  in  both  the  summer  and  winter  months.  Immediately  ) 
east  of  the  city  is  Lake  Michigan,  having  an  area  of  22,450  square  ( 
miles,  on  the  shore  of  which  the  city  is  located.  This  immense  body  y 
of  water  is  without  current  except  as  the  flow  of  the  water  is  influ- 
enced by  the  winds.  In  the  summer  the  warm  breezes  are  tempered 
in  their  passage  over  the  cooler  waters  of  the  lake  and  the  local  tem- 
perature is  thus  so  modified  that  a  day  with  the  mercury  above  90  . 
degrees  is  a  rarity.  During  the  fall  months  the  waters  of  the  lake  j 
give  to  the  atmosphere  the  heat  that  they  have  absorbed  during  ther-^ 
summer  which  affords  the  city  a  long  and  warm  autumn,  a  degree 
of  temperature  much  like  the  Indian  Summer  of  New  England,  which 
frequently  continues  until  the  latter  part  of  December.  Cold  and 
blustering  days  will  intervene  between  October  and  Christmas  but 
rarely  for  more  than  two  or  three  in  succession.  This  shortens  the 
period  of  physical  disorders,  of  which  rheumatism  and  bronchitis  are 
types  and  which  are  peculiar  to  the  autumnal  and  winter  months  of 
some  other  sections  of  the  country.  At  this  season  of  the  year  the 
rain  falls  are  minimum,  the  precipitation  for  the  last  38  years  showing 
that  most  rain  falls  in  the  months  of  May,  June,  July  and  August 
and  the  least  in  October,  November,  December  and  February,  the 
average  for  the  year  being  33.70  inches,  which  is  by  no  means  exces- 
sive. This  condition  keeps  the  air  cool  in  summer  and  dry  in  winter. 
To  this  local  modification  of  the  climate  is  due  the  fact  that  while 
at  some  manufacturing  centers,  in  such  industries  as  develop  high 
degrees  of  heat,  like  furnaces  and  foundries,  labor  has  frequently  to 
be  for  a  time  suspended  during  the  heated  term,  yet  it  is  never  neces- 
sary to  do  so  in  this  city.  It  is  never  too  warm  in  this  city  to  carry 
on  any  kind  of  labor.  At  the  same  time  it  is  rare  indeed  that  out 
of  door  labors  have  to  be  discontinued  because  of  the  low  temperature. 
In  the  conservation  of  the  public  health  it  became  imperative 
that  some  other  disposition  of  the  sewage  of  the  city  should  be  made 
than  discharging  it  into  the  lake,  the  only  source  of  water  supply 
for  domestic  purposes.  The  Sanitary  District  was  organized  in  1889, 
and  contains  at  present  an  area  of  358  square  miles,  with  a  population 
of  fully  two  and  a  half  millions  of  people.  The  trustees  were  author- 
ized to  open  a  canal  to  carry  the  waters  of  the  Chicago  river  into  the 
Desplaines  to  be  discharged  into  the  Mississippi,  This  canal  was 
opened  across  the  divide,  28  miles  to  Lockport,  and  varies  in  width 


^ 


CHICAGO 


ITS  CLIMATE  AND  HEALTH. 


25 


from  162  to  290  feet  with  a  minimum  depth  of  22  feet  and  has  a 
flow  of  300,000  cubic  feet  of  water  per  minute.  It  was  completed  in 
January,  1900,  and  has  cost  about  $66,000,000.  This  canal  entirely 
reverses  the  current  of  the  Chicago  river,  making  it  an  outlet  for  the 
lake  instead  of  a  feeder,  and  discharging  the  sewage  of  the  city  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  instead  of  emptying  it  into  Lake  Michigan  from 
which  the  city  takes  its  domestic  water  supply.  The  effect  of  this 
improvement  was  almost  instantaneous  and  miraculous.  Typhoid 
fever,  smallpox  and  all  diseases  occasioned  by  polluted  and  impure 
water  became,  as  compared  with  former  conditions,  almost  a  rarity 
which  more  than  anything  else  has  tended  to  make  Chicago  the  city 
with  the  lowest  death  rate  of  any  important  municipality  on  the  conti- 
nent. 

It  is  not  unnatural  that,  with  favorable  climatic  conditions  and  the 
efforts  that  have  been  made  so  successfully  to  eliminate  the  subtile 
dangers  to  public  health  that  result  from  defective  sewerage  and 
impure  water,  the  death  rate  in  Chicago  should  be  lower  than  that 
of  other  large  cities,  both  foreign  and  domestic,  which  have  a  more 
variable  climate  and  are  not  provided  with  the  modern  sanitary 
expedients  that  are  the  safeguards  of  public  health.  As  to  American 
municipalities  the  latest  and  most  reliable  statistics  upon  public  health, 
and  the  rate  of  mortality,  that  are  attainable  are  those  given  by  the 
government,  which  show  the  death  rate  per  1,000  of  population  in 
American  cities  having  a  population  of  350,000  or  more,  for  the  four 
years  between  1908  and  1911,  as  follows: 


y 


City 

190S 

1909 

1910 

1911* 

Chicago 

New  York 

14.6 

16.3 

17.3 

14.7 

18.3 

19. 

17.3 

13.3 

15.3 

15.5 

13.7 

18. 

12.7 

22.3 

19.1 

14.7 

16. 

16.4 

15.8 

16.8 

18.7 

15.8 

12.9 

15.2 

15. 

14. 

16.5 

13.7 

20.2 

19. 

15.1 

16. 

17.4 

15.8 

17.2 

19.2 

17.9 

14.3 

16.3 

15.1 

15.9 

17.4 

13.8 

21.3 

19.6 

14.5 
15.1 

Philadelphia 

16.5 

St.  Louis 

Boston 

15.7 
17.1 

Baltimore 

18.4 

Pittsburgh 

14.9 

Cleveland     

13.7 

Buffalo 

14.5 

San  Prancisco 

Detroit 

15.3 

Cincinnati 

16.4 

Milwaukee 

New  Orleans 

Washington 

*Data  for  years  1908,  1909  and  1910  are  from  Census  Bulletin  109.    That  for 
1911  from  local  reports  as  far  as  obtainable. 


26 


CHICAGO; 


It  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  no  part  of  the  north  temperate  zone 
have  originated  any  of  those  epidemics  like  cholera,  the  bubonic 
plague,  sleeping  sickness,  pellagra,  yellow  fever,  or  other  plagues  that 
have  proved  so  destructive  of  human  life  and  demanded  the  most 
drastic  sanitary  measures  to  check  or  exclude  them.  They  have 
almost  invariably  originated  in  either  higher  or  lower  latitudes.  Chi- 
cago, because  of  its  equitable  climate,  its  exemptions  at  all  seasons 
of  the  year  from  extremes  of  temperature,  has  acquired  a  justly  earned 
reputation  as  a  "Summer  Resort."  The  report  of  the  Government 
Weather  Bureau  in  this  city  fully  justifies  any  claims  in  that  direction 
which  may  be  made.  The  following  table  shows  the  extremes  of 
temperature  in  Chicago  each  year  during  the  last  forty,  between  1871 
and  1911  inclusive,  from  which  it  appears  that  only  once  in  that 
time  has  the  thermometer  registered  over  100  degrees  and  only  in  six 
winters  has  a  record  been  made  below  zero.  During  that  period  the 
highest  monthly  mean  temperature  was  77.4  degrees  and  the  lowest 
was  12  degrees. 


Month 


Maxi- 

Mini- 

Highest 

Lowest 

mum 

Year 

Day 

mum 

Year 

Day 

monthly 
mean 

Year 

monthly 
mean 

65 

1876b 

1 

-20 

1897t 

25 

39.8 

1880 

12.0 

63 

1880* 

26 

-21 

1899 

9 

39.0 

1882 

14.6 

81 

1910 

27 

-12 

1873 

4 

48.6 

1910 

28.9 

88 

1899 

29 

17 

1875§ 

17 

53.4 

1896 

38.8 

94 

1895a 

31 

27 

1875 

2 

65.9 

1911 

51.4 

98 

1872c 

19 

40 

1894t 

6 

72.4 

1911 

61.2 

103 

1901 

21 

50 

18730 

19 

77.4 

1901 

67.0 

98 

1874t 

11 

47 

1887 

26 

76.3 

1900 

67.6 

98 

1899 

5 

32 

1899 

30 

70.6 

1908 

59.8 

87 

1897 

15 

14 

1887 

25 

61.4 

1900 

46.2 

75 

1888 

1 

-  2 

1872 

29 

48.5 

1909 

31.6 

68 

1875 

31 

-23 

1872 

24 

43.4 

1877 

18.4 

Year 


January 

February... 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September. 
October  . . . 
November . 
December. . 


1893 

1875 

1877 

1874 

1882 

1903 

1891 

1890 

1888 

1895 

1880  j 

1872 


♦Also  in  1876, 10th  day.  fAlso  in  1881,  4th  day;  1887, 10th  day;  1896,  8th  day. 
tAlso  in  1875,  9th  day.  §Also  in  1881,  1st  day;  1879,  3rd  day.  t  Also  in  1875, 
22d  day.  ^Also  in  1895,  9th  day.  jAlso  in  1872.  bAlso  in  1909,  23rd  day. 
aAlso  in  1911, 26th  day.    cAlso  in  1911,  9th  day. 

During  the  last  40  years  the  average  mean  temperature  has  not 
exceeded  50  degrees  nor  been  below  45  degrees,  while  the  rain  fall 
has  not  exceeded  43.22  inches,  nor  been  below  26.14  inches.  -^ 

These  facts  and  conditions  explain  why  the  mortality  per  1,000  \ 
of  population  is  so  low,  being  in  1910  15.14,  having  declined  very   j 
steadily  and  almost  uniformly  from  27.64  in  1872.    This  is  due  chiefly  \ 
to  the  diminution  of  deaths  from  what  are  called  preventable  diseases, 
which  include  diphtheria,  diarrheal  diseases,  malarial  fevers,  measles, 
pneumonia,  scarlet  fever,  smallpox,  tuberculosis,  typhoid  and  typhus    \ 


10, 


ITS  CLIMATE  AND  HEALTH. 


27 


MAP  OP 

THE  BELT  R'Y  CO.  OF  CHICAGO 


SHOWING  CONNECTIONS 
?  1  1 


D-^^ 

ST.  P.  4S.  S. 
P   (A.  T.  4  $.  F 

F 1.  H.B. 

G C.  U.  T. 

M G.  T. 

[P.  C.C.  AST.  L. 
I  —■{  PEP.E   MARQUETTE 

IWABASH 

fc.&E.I. 

1  Jesie 

''~^C.  I.*.  U. 
LWABASH 
TN.  Y.  C.  &ST.  L. 

I.  C.  (SOUTH) 

C.  i.&L. 

C.  &.O. 

ERIE 
.WABASH 

P.  F.  W.  &C. 

L.  S.  ».  M.  9, 

~.&o. 

C.  R.  I.  A  P. 
E.  J.  &E. 
L.  M.C.  F.T.  CO. 
C.  8.  U 

c.t.a. 

lew.  p.  &s. 

M-^MICH.  CENT. 
N C.  &E.  I. 


SZZCT. 


28  CHICAGO: 


fevers,  whooping  cough  and  some  others,  which  declined  from  about 
21.  in  1866  to  a  fraction  over  6.50  in  1909.  In  what  man  has  been 
able  to  do  towards  making  Chicago  the  most  salubrious  large  city  in 
this  country  he  has  been  assisted  by  natural  causes,  the  chief  of  which 
is  the  proximity  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  breezes  across  which  are 
tempered  in  the  Summer  by  their  passage  over  the  cooler  waters  of 
the  lake  and  moderated  in  the  Winter  by  the  warmth  accumulated  by 
the  water  during  the  Summer  months. 

The  subject  of  public  health  is  one  that  is  of  vital  importance,  not 
only  to  the  manufacturer,  who  seeks  a  healthful  climate  in  which  to 
reside  with  his  family,  but  also  to  him  as  an  employer  of  labor.  , 
Epidemics  are  practically  unknown,  and  while  other  cities  are  waging  / 
a  constant  warfare  against  zymotic  disorders,  occasioned  by  con- 
taminated water  and  evaporation  from  unsewered  soil,  Chicago's 
exemption,  by  reason  of  millions  of  dollars  expended  for  sewerage 
and  to  secure  pure  water  for  domestic  purposes  in  the  conservation 
of  public  health,  is  something  of  which  the  city  is  proud  and  of  which 
it  has  reason  to  be  boastful. 

Children  will  contract  measles,  mumps  and  other  ailments  to  which 
they  are  specially  subject,  but  the  closing  of  any  one  of  our  public 
schools  on  account  of  the  prevalence  of  such  outbreaks  is  almost 
unknown. 

An  employer  of  labor  who  is  practically  exempt  from  sickness 
among  his  employes  has  an  asset  in  business  that  is  of  great  value 
even  if  it  does  not  have  an  entry  on  the  credit  side  of  his  ledger. 
When  the  shops  of  other  cities  are  closed  because  of  epidemics  fronj 
any  cause,  it  is  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to  the  business  man  of 
Chicago  that  he  is  uniformly  exempt  from  such  misfortunes  and  is 
located  in  the  healthiest  large  market  on  the  globe.  ^ 


AS  A  CENTRAL  MARKET.  29 

Chicago— As  a  Central  Market 

The  geographical  center  of  the  continental  portion  of  the  United 
States  is  latitude  39°  55'  N.,  and  the  longitude  98°  50'  W.,  the  point 
being  ten  miles  north  of  Smith  Center,  the  county  seat  of  Smith 
County,  in  Northern  Kansas.  The  center  of  population  is  latitude 
39°  10'  12"  N.  and  longitude  86°  32'  20"  W.,  in  the  city  of  Blooming- 
ton,  Monroe  County,  Indiana.  The  former  point  is  therefore  approx- 
imately 675  miles  west  and  51  miles  north  of  the  latter,  with  Chicago 
located  a  little  north  of  the  center  of  population. 

The  movement  of  the  population  of  the  country  has  been  significant 
of  its  development,  increase  in  wealth,  trade  and  commerce.  While 
the  movement  of  the  center  of  population  westward  has  been  due  to 
the  settlement  of  the  West,  its  movement  north  and  south  has  closely 
corresponded  with  the  acquisition  of  new  territory.  Thus  the  annex- 
ation of  Louisiana  caused  a  slight  southward  movement  between  1800 
and  1810,  rather  more  than  offsetting  the  increase  of  population  in 
the  North. 

In  the  next  decade  the  settlement  of  Mississippi,  -Alabama  and 
Eastern  Georgia  again  pulled  it  a  little  southward.  Its  most  decided 
southward  movement  was  between  1820  and  1830,  due  to  the  annex- 
ation of  Florida  and  the  great  extension  of  settlement  in  Alabama, 
Louisiana,  Mississippi  and  Arkansas.  From  1830  to  1840  rapid  settle- 
ment in  the  prairie  states  and  in  Southern  Michigan  and  Wisconsin 
turned  the  tide  northward,  but  in  the  next  decade  the  annexation  of 
Texas  brought  a  change  to  the  southward. 

In  1860  another  slight  northward  movement  was  recorded  and  in 
1870  a  more  decided  movement  in  the  same  direction  of  13.3  miles 
was  shown.  In  1880  the  census  showed  a  decided  movement  south- 
ward in  consequence  of  the  partial  recovery  of  the  South  and  the  bet- 
ter enumeration  of  the  negroes. 

In  1890  foreign  immigration  and  rapid  settlement  of  the  West 
almost  exactly  offset  the  southward  movement  of  the  preceding  decade. 
In  1900  the  settlement  of  Oklahoma,  Indian  Territory  and  Texas 
is  shown  to  have  more  than  counterbalanced  the  increase  in  Northern 
population  to  the  extent  of  a  southward  movement  of  about  three 
miles. 

During  the  last  decade  the  increase  in  population  of  New  York, 
Pennsylvania  and  other  Northern  states  almost  exactly  balanced  the 


30 


CHICAGO : 


AS  A  CENTRAL  MARKET.  31 

increase  in  Texas,  Oklahoma  and  Southern  California.  The  west- 
ward movement  was  largely  due  to  the  great  increase  in  population 
of  the  Pacific  states,  which  was  given  the  greater  weight  in  changing 
the  center  by  their  greater  distance  from  it.  Thus  the  combined 
population  of  San  Francisco,  Portland,  Seattle  and  Sacramento — 
906,016 — had  as  great  influence  on  the  center  of  population  as  that 
of  Philadelphia,  Boston  and  Baltimore  combined — 2,778,078. 

The  necessity  for  markets  is  fixed  by  the  inexorable  laws  of  trade 
and  commerce  and  these  are  determined  by  movements  of  population,      j 
the  development  of  agriculture  and  the  industrial  growth  of  the  terri-  ■    / 
tory.     In  the  early  history  of  the  country,  when  its  population  was  \   \ 
confined  to  a  narrow  fringe  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  Philadelphia 
was  the  principal  market  of  the  entire  country  from  Savannah  to 
Boston.     The  development  of  manufacturing  in  the  New  England 
states  was  a  magnet  strong  enough  to  attract  trade  in  that  direction, 
northerly,   and   New  York   early   became   the   larger  mafket.     The 
maritime  advantages  of  New  York  over  Philadelphia  made  the  former 
city  the  center  of  the  coastwise  trade  of  the  new  nation. 

New  York  soon  became  the  financial  center  of  the  country  and  the 
southern  cotton  grower  bought  his  goods  where  he  sold  his  staples. 
The  one  branch  of  business  greatly  assisted  in  the  growth  of  the  other. 

With  the  development  and  prosperity  pf  the  West  the  idea  of 
going  1,000  miles  to  a  market  was  not  to  be  thought  of  and  locail 
interests,  while  they  did  not  change  the  direction  of  commerce,  did 
demand  a  market  nearer  home  where  commodities  could  be  exchanged 
for  the  products  of  the  soil. 

There  are  several  factors  that  fix  the  locus  of  a  general  market,  the  ^ 
more  important  being,  proximity  to  raw  materials,  means  of  transpor-  ; 
tation,  favorable  climate,  population,  financial  resources,  availability 
of  power,  abundance  of  labor  and  accessibility.    Population  furnishes    j 
the  consumers  and  producers;  products  of  labor  supply  the  commodi-   ' 
ties  to  be  bought  and  sold ;  financial  resources  provide  the  medium  of 
exchange  between  seller  and  buyer  and  accessibility  enables  both  the 
buyer  and  seller  to  reach  the  market  and  the  producer  to  place  the    . 
results  of  his  industry  where  they  can  be  inspected  and  offered  for    \ 
sale.    In  proportion  to  the  dominance  of  these  essentials  the  market     | 
will  be  great  or  small.  ' 

The  expansion  of  population  in  this  country  implies  of  itself,  a 
greater  and  stronger  degree  of  concentration  among  the  inhabitants 
which  means,  also,  contraction  within  a  smaller  compass  of  manu- 
facturing and  this  essential  in  determining  the  modern  markets  of 


32  CHICAGO 


the  world.  This  musV  be  the  case,  invariably,  because  increase  of 
population  and  concentration  of  industries  always  stimulates  the 
enlargement  of  factories;  the  introduction  of  more  complicated  and 
costly  machinery;  improved  facilities  in  handling  and  transporting 
manufactured  products,  all  of  which  tend  to  lessen  the  cost  of  manu- 
facturing. This  attracts  capital,  improves  and  multiplies  means  of 
transportation,  encourages  trade  and  determines  the  location  of  a 
permanent  market. 

This  condition  is  still  more  influential  in  its  effect  upon  the  char- 
acter of  the  market  itself.  As  the  market  grows  there  is  a  demand 
for  more  complicated  machinery,  more  highly  skilled  labor  and  a 
wider  range  of  manufactured  goods. 

This  is  very  closely  the  condition  of  circumstances  that  materially  \ 
contributed  to  the  making  of  Chicago  the  great  central  market  it  has 
now  become.  Take  the  manufacturing  of  iron  and  steel.  With  the 
demand  of  a  rapidly  growing  population  at  the  West  came  the  impera- 
tive demand  for  the  construction  of  railways.  The  blast  furnaces 
made  steel  from  which  Bessemer  steel  rails  were  rolled,  the  Bessemer 
plants  gave  way  to  the  open-hearth  process,  which  turned  out  a  better 
product.  Then  the  car  wheel  industry  located  its  works  near  the 
smelters  and,  as  steel  was  demanded  for  structural  purposes,  that 
industry  became  common  and  steel  bridge  works  followed. 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  trace  the  evolutions  of  the  steel  indus- 
try down  to  nuts  and  bolts,  wire  nails  and  horseshoes  in  order  to 
further  illustrate  how  from  natural  causes  a  great  market  has  its 
inception  and  growth. 

The  fact  must  not  be  overlooked  that  a  manufacturing  center  and    \ 
market  cannot  be  located  otherwise  than  in  a  metropolis.     The  assem- 
""bling  ol  raw  materials  for  the  use  of  industrial  plants  demands  not 
only  the  convenience  of  lines  of  transportation  for  their  conveyance,     < 
but  also  the  great  volume  of  labor  required  for  their  manipulation    j 
and  the  capital  necessary  for  the  carrying  on  of  the  various  branches 
of  business  involved.     The  greater  the  variety  of  industrial  enter-    ■ 
prises,  the  greater  must  be  the  concentration  of  the  three  essentials-^ 
above  mentioned. 

Another  very  important  factor  that  enters  into  the  question  of  \ 
locating  industries  and  the  creation  of  market  facilities  is  the  pro-  { 
duction  and  distribution  of  the  necessary  power  for  the  propelling  ( 
of  machinery.  This  incident,'  of  growth  has  been  very  radically  j 
changed  within  the  last  decade  by  the  progress  of  invention  that  has  I 
made  commercially  available  sources  of  power  that  were  previously    \ 


AS  A  CENTRAL  MARKET.  33 

merely  speculative.  This  has  chiefly  been  the  adaptation  of  electricity 
to  the  propulsion  of  machinery,  and  in  probably  no  other  direction 
has  greater  progress  been  made  in  the  useful  arts  within  the  last 
twelve  or  fifteen  years  than  by  the  employment  of  electric  currents 
for  the  motive  power  of  mills,  factories  and  other  industrial  enter-  , 
prises.  J 

For  many  years  water  power  was  the  only  energy  applicable  to 
the  movement  of  machinery  and  the  streams  of  the  New  England  and 
other  eastern  sections  of  the  country  were,  on  that  account,  the  great 
starting  points  of  manufacturing  progress  and  wealth  in  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  section  of  the  country.  A  little  later  steam  power,  in  a 
great  measure,  supplanted  the  water  wheel  and  manufacturing  enter- 
prises were  established  in  localities  separated  from  running  streams. 
Later  still  electricity  was  made  available  as  a  propelling  power  and, 
since  the  invention  of  appliances  by  which  electric  power  can  be 
transmitted  without  appreciable  loss  for  hundreds  of  miles,  it  has 
added  greatly  to  the  present  value  of  limited  water  powers  because 
of  their  efficiency  for  the  operation  of  electric  generators.  Electricity 
as  an  instrument  of  commerce  has  another,  and  perhaps  not  secondary, 
value  in  that  it  both  centralizes  and  distributes  the  means  for  the 
conveyance  of  intelligence,  which  is  especially  important  in  conducting'" 
and  dispatching  the  business  of  a  great  market.  These  are  the  tele- 
graph and  the  telephone.  By  the  telephone  nearly  every  farmer  of 
any  state  can  be  advised  daily,  and  often  hourly,  of  the  exact  condi- 
tion of  the  market  in  which  he  sells  his  products.  This  regulates 
the  movement  of  produce  and  stocks  in  such  a  way  that  a  glut  is  pre- 
vented and  receipts  are  controlled,  conducing  to  a  steady  market  and 
adjusting  the  supply  to  the  demand. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  climate  is  one  of  the  strong '  influences 
that  affects  the  location  of  a  great  market,  none  of  .importance  being 
located  south  of  30  or  north  of  50  degrees  of  north  latitude,  only 
one  being  north  of  the  northern  limit,  which  is  due  entirely  to  the 
warm  currents  of  the  Gulf  streams  which  modify  the  climate  of 
England.  This  is  because  labor  is  most  effective  and  productive, 
rainfall  is  more  uniform,  the  soil  is  more  fertile  and  products  more 
varied  in  that  zone  than  in  any  other  north  of  the  Equator.  The  nat- 
ural tendency  is  thus  to  preserve  the  equilibrium  between  supply  and 
demand,  whether  it  be  of  labor  or  food.  A  glance  at  the  map  of 
the  world  shows  the  tendency  of  centralization  in  the  world's  markets. 
In  the  middle  ages,  when  the  most  valuable  commerce  was  between 
eastern  Asia  and  Europe,  Genoa  and  Venice  were  the  world's  prin- 
cipal markets. 


34 


CHICAGO : 


< 

vv 

N\  ^ 

z 

\'^> 

< 

'*A 

^■1 

3 

z 

\i 

4 

o 

'■■i 

g 

/ 

AS  A  CENTRAL  MARKET.  35 

But  as  the  movement  of  trade  tended  northward,  Flanders  and 
Holland  became  its  center,  and  Rotterdam  and  Antwerp  controlled 
the  trade  of  Europe.  The  next  movement  of  commerce  was  north- 
west, and  London  and  Liverpool  became  the  dominant  commercial 
and  financial  centers  of  the  continent.  On  our  own  continent  the 
movement  of  commerce  has  been  more  modern,  but  the  laws  govern- 
ing it  are  no  less  inviolable  than  in  Europe. 

The  improvement  of  our  waterways  cannot  nullify  the  laws  which 
govern  commerce  and  trade,  but  will  accelerate  their  operation.  The 
great  markets  of  the  world  are  lo.cated  along  the  waterways,  and  if 
there  should  be  an  increase  in  the  capacity  or  utility  of  these  avenues 
of  trade  it  will  only  enhance  the  importance  and  encourage  the  develop- 
ment of  the  great  markets  to  which  they  are  tributary  and  which  they 
will  serve. 

It  has  been  facetiously  asked  why  the  great  rivers  flowed  past  the 
great  cities.  It  is  plain  enough  why  there  are  great  cities  along  the 
coast  lines  of  countries  where  harbor  facilities  are  to  be  found  in  the 
form  of  bays  and  inlets.  But  in  the  interior  of  a  continent  commer- 
cial cities  always  seek  locations  wherever  land  and  water  transporta- 
tion meet.  This  in  America  occurs  near  the  head  of  the  Great  Lakes, 
as  at  Chicago  and  Duluth;  it  occurs  at  the  head  of  river  navigation, 
as  at  Pittsburgh  and  St.  Paul.  These  cities  also  arise  where  several 
rivers  and  river  valleys  converge,  and  near  falls  and  rapids  which 
impede  navigation,  as  at  Louisville  and  Detroit,  and  where  great 
bends  occur  in  an  important  stream,  or  river  valley,  as  at  Kansas  City 
and  Cincinnati,  and  sometimes  they  are  found  where  lines  of  trans- 
portation converge  at  a  river  bank,  as  at  Omaha.  The  important  part 
that  water  transportation  plays  in  the  location  of  commercial  cities 
may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  of  the  twenty  large  cities  in  the 
United  States  nine  are  located  at  tide  water,  five  on  the  chain  of  the 
Great  Lakes,  five  on  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers,  and  one  on  the 
Potomac.  On  the  Great  Lakes  the  waters,  while  encouraging  urban 
growth,  act  as  a  bar  against  the  provinces  on  the  northern  shores, 
which  has  contributed  in  a  measure  to  the  rapid  growth  of  Chicago, 
Duluth,  Detroit,  Cleveland  and  Buffalo.  But  speaking  generally  and 
broadly,  it  has  not  been  altogether  the  site  nor  the  location  that  has 
made  the  American  city.  Two  other  influences  have  been  dominant, 
which  are,  on  the  one  hand,  the  currents  of  trade  that,  while  they 
have  always  been  beyond  human  control,  have  not  been  independent 
of  human  influence;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  ability  and  wisdom 
of  the  population,  large  or  small,  to  recognize  both  natural  and  arti- 
ficial advantages  and  to  make  all  that  was  possible  out  of  their  oppor- 
tunities. 


36 


CHICAGO 


/ 


What  do  the  promises  of  history  mean,  or  indicate,  in  their  appli- 
cation to  Chicago  ? 

No  large  city  in  the  United  States  is  situated  so  near  to  both  the 
center  of  area  and  population  as  is  Chicago.  It  is  estimated  that 
within  a  night's  ride  of  Chicago  there  is  a  population  of  more  than 
50,000,000  people,  or  nearly  one-half  of  the  entire  inhabitants  of  the 
country.     They  are  a  highly  cultivated,  energetic,  prosperous  people 

iwho  possess  nearly  one-third  of  the  wealth  of  the  country  and  produce 
a  very  large  proportion  of  the  food  products  of  the  United  States. 
rOver  the  railroads,  connecting  them  immediately  with  Chicago,  are 
operated  more  than  1,500  railway  passenger  trains  daily,  all  of  which 
enter  the  various  railway  stations  located  within  the  business  district 
of  the  city.  The  territory  within  this  radius  reaches  from  Omaha  in 
the  West  to  Pittsburgh  in  the  East,  and  from  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul 
in  the  North  to  Nashville  in  the  South,  and  contains  more  than  twenty 
large  cities  with  smaller  markets,  all  of  which  are  tributary  to  the 
Great  Central  Market  of  Chicago.  All  merchandise  is,  more  or  less, 
sensitive  to  freight  charges  and  cost  of  conveyance  is  an  important 
factor  in  the  maintenance  of  a  market.  Business  interests  demand 
^that  goods  be  purchased  where  they  can  be  bought  the  cheapest, 
and  freight  charges  are  included  by  the  retailer  in  the  cost  of  hisj 
stock.  He  will,  therefore,  buy  in  the  market  nearest  him,  other  con- 
ditions being  equal.  The  unequaled  transportation  facilities  of  Chi- 
cago have  been  discussed  in  another  chapter  of  this  volume,  and  it 
is  only  necessary  to  recall  that  subject  to  show  why  the  wholesale 
trade  of  this  city  is  increasing  with  such  marvelous  rapidity.  The 
following  table  from  Dun's  Review  of  January  6th,  1912,  a  recognized 
authority,  show  the  growth  of  the  wholesale  trade  and  manufacturing 
of  Chicago  since  1902: 


^ 


Year 

Wholesale  Trade 

Manufactiired  Products 

Totals 

1902 

$1,298,200,000 

$1,195,460,000 

$2,493,660,000 

1903 

1,442,437,000 

1,226,901,000 

2,669,338,000 

1904 

1,550,270,000 

1,280,000,000 

2,830,270,000 

1905 

1,767,304,000 

1,420,800,000 

3,188,104,000 

1906 

1,855,600,000 

1,491,840,000 

3,347,440,000 

1907 

1,911,268,000 

1,525,000,000 

3,436,268,000 

1908 

1,825,263,000 

1,410,625,000 

3,285,888,000 

1909 

1,916,526,150 

1,495,262,500 

3,411,788,650 

1910 

1,549,091,000 

1,549,091,000 

3,503,951,000 

1911 

1,905,989,000 

1,487,128,325 

3,393,117,325 

AS  A  CENTRAL  MARKET. 


37 


The  decreases  were  caused  by  the  business  depression  which  began 
in  the  autumn  of  1907  and  which  had  a  restrictive  influence  on  manu- 
facturing generally  throughout  the  entire  country,  as  well  as  in 
Chicago. 

There  is  no  disputing  the  fact  that  "Chicago  is  the  Live  Stock 
Market  of  the  World,"  a  position  it  has  held  for  many  years.  Other 
markets  have  been  established  which  do  a  large  business,  like 
Omaha,  Kansas  City,  Sioux  City,  but  Chicago  is  the  more  important. 
The  following  is  a  statement  of  the  receipts  and  valuations  at  the 
Union  Stock  Yards  during  the  year  1911 : 


Number  of  Head 

Kind 

Valuation 

2,931,831 

521,512 

7,103,360 

5,736,244 

104,545 

Cattle 

Calves 

Hogs 

Sheep 

Horses 

$180,206,174 

5,788,785 

110,037,446 

24,634,185 

18,818,100 

16,397,492 

Total 

$339,484,690 

The  transportation  of  this  stock  required  252,712  cars.  The  total 
shipment  from  Chicago  for  the  year  was:  Cattle,  1,216,552;  calves, 
27,951;  hogs,  1,526,722;  sheep,  1,283,423;  horses,  89,924,  making  a 
total  of  4,144,572,  or  82,622  cars.  During  the  forty-six  years  since 
the  Union  Stock  Yards  were  established  in  Chicago  the  total  receipts 
of  stock  of  all  kinds  have  been  479,381,801  head,  valued  at  $8,921,813,- 
953.  There  are  few  cities  in  the  world  the  total  business  of  which 
has  been  in  excess  of  that  of  this  single  branch  of  Chicago's  trade  and 
commerce. 

The  general  and  vigorous  growth  of  manufacturing  in  Chicago  for 
a  series  of  years  is  a  better  indication  of  the  development  of  indus- 
trial enterprises  than  can  be  indicated  by  the  progress  in  a  single; 
period,  large  as  it  may  be.  Between  1900  and  1904  the  increase  in 
the  product  of  manufactures  of  Illinois  was  25  per  cent,  and  between 
1905  and  1910  it  was  36  per  cent.  The  gain  in  Chicago  between 
1900  and  1905  was  20  per  cent,  and  between  1905  and  1910  it  was  34  > 
per  cent.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  many  of  the  largest  indus- 
trial institutions  in  the  state  are  owned  and  operated  by  Chicago  cor-  / 
porations  and  firms. 


S8 


CHICAGO : 


Chicasro  Great  Western  Railroad 


AS  A  CENTRAL  MARKET. 


39 


The  following  table  shows  the  principal  commodities  received  in 
1909  and  1911: 


Commodity 

1909 

1911 

Wheat,  bushels 

Com,  bushels 

Oats,  bushels 

Rye,  bushels 

Flour,  barrels 

Butter,  pounds 

Eesfs,  cases 

26,985,112 

90,894,920 

87,884,238 

1,426,350 

8,526,207 

316,546,835 

4,557,906 

6,566,736 

13,630,000 

2,584,512 

150,636,892 

91,695,097 

83,098,982 

37,118,100 

108,550,500 

94,099,800 

1,790,200 

5,859,396 

334,932,400 

4,707,385 

5,391,663 

15,500,000 

2,134,567 

166,130,800 

71,810,800 

104,075,600 

Iron  Ore,  tons 

Coal,  tons 

Lumber,  thousand  feet 

Hides,  pounds 

Wool,  pounds 

Cheese 

The  decrease  in  receipts  of  wheat  and  flour  is  due  chiefly  to  the 
falling  off  in  exports  on  foreign  demand.  The  increase  in  wheat  pro- 
duction has  not  kept  pace  with  the  demand  upon  the  wheat  fields, 
increment  of  population  having  caused  an  increase  in  consumption 
which  Is  supplied  by  local  markets.  Undoubtedly  the  advance  in  prices 
has  caused  unusual  economy  on  the  part  of  consumers,  which  will 
be  shown  in  general  market  reports. 

Bank  clearances  are  regarded  as  a  very  safe  indication  of  the 
amount  of  business  transacted  in  any  of  the  markets  of  the  country. 
The  following  table  shows  the  bank  clearances  for  the  twelve  months 
of  1911  and  1910,  with  the  percentage  of  increase  in  each  of  the  cities 
estimated  in  the  eensus  bulletin  to  contain  a  population  of  300,000 
or  over :  f 


40 


CHICAGO : 


1911 

1910 

Increase  or 
Decrease 

$92,372,812,735 

$97,274,500,093 

—5. 

13,925,709,802 

13,939,689,984 

—0.1 

7,691,842,937 

7,689,664,084 

+0.03 

3,859,681,136 

3,727,949,379 

+3.5 

8,339,718,582 

8,299,320,162 

+0.5 

1,767,682,328 

1,626,676,299 

+8.7 

2,520,285,913 

2,587,325,785 

—2.6 

1,012,557,805 

1,000,857,953 

+  1.2 

516,876,771 

502,826,696 

+2.8 

2,427,075,543 

2,323,772,876 

+4.4 

968,647,059 

924,835,008 

+4.5 

1,277,555,300 

1,251,797,050 

+2.1 

696,732,779 

658,002,572 

+5.9 

1,013,907,623 

978,491,235 

+2.7 

369,167,396 

365,656,582 

+0.1 

New  York 

Chicago.  ...... 

Philadelphia. . 

St.  Lotiis 

Boston 

Baltimore .  . . . 

Pittsburgh 

Cleveland .  .  . . 

Buffalo 

San  Francisco 

Detroit 

•  Cincinnati . . . . 
Milwaukee.  .  . 
New  Orleans. 
Washington.  . 


A  still  closer  indication  of  business  progress  is  shown  in  the  postal 
statistics  of  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Chicago  in  1910  and  1911. 
The  receipts  indicate  the  growth  in  population  and  the  money  orders 
show  the  increase  in  business  that  rarely  goes  through  the  banks. 
The  gain  in  receipts  of  the  Chicago  office  for  the  year  shows,  if  com- 
pared with  the  total  receipts  of  some  of  the  offices  included  in  the 
list,  about  how  large  a  city  Chicago  is  adding  to  itself  each  year.  In 
its  money  order  business  Chicago  outranks  every  other  city  in  the 
United  States. 


Pncfnffipp 

Receipts  1911 

Gain  Over  1910 

Domestic  Money  Orders  1911 

Amount  Issued 

Amount  Paid 

New  York 

Chicago 

$24,190,109.65 
20,317,374.57 

$1,073,654.13 
1,294,054.13 

$14,339,500.72 
11,933,117.09 

$59,675,454.06 
96,505,881.72 

Comparisons  with  the  oth^r  large  cities  in  the  United  States  sig- 
nify little,  as  the  next  largest  city  to  Chicago  is  Philadelphia,  the 
receipts  of  which  postoffice  are  about  one-third  of  that  of  Chicago. 

In  1905  the  Federal  building,  containing  the  postoffice,  was  com- 
pleted at  a  cost  of  $4,757,000.  The  structure  is  311  by  386  feet, 
eight  stories  high,  with  a  dome  section  of  eight  additional  stories,  the 
total  height  being  297  feet.  An  appropriation  has  been  made  by  Con- 
gress for  a  block  of  ground  and  a  building  to  be  erected  to  relieve 
the  congestion  of  business  in  the  present  structure. 


ITS  SUPPLY  OF  RAW  MATERIALS.  41 

JV, 

Chicago— Its  Supply  of  Raw  Materials 

(  "Theoretically,  the  prime  factors  of  the  industrial  problem  are  raw 

K  materials,  power,  transportation,  markets  and  labor,  and  no  commu- 
j  nity  can  thrive  as  a  manufacturing  center  which  does  not  possess  at 
least  three  of  these  factors."  With  its  boundless  resources  of  this 
character,  the  West  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  East  in  the  develop- 
ment of  its  industries  until  very  recently,  and  this  has  been  due 
largely  to  the  conservative  force  of  invested  capital.  The  industrial 
development  of  the  country  began  in  New  England.  That  section 
of  the  country  was  illy  adapted  to  successful  agriculture  commen- 
surate with  its  growing  demands,  while  it  did  possess  abundant  water 
power,  with  a  population  accustomed  to  labor  and  admirably  fitted 
to  industrial  pursuits.  The  southern  Atlantic  states,  with  slave  labor, 
but  without  natural  power  for  propelling  of  machinery,  could  supply 
the  spindles  of  New  England  with  cotton,  and  these  two  conditions 
offered  inducements  for  the  founding  of  the  infant  textile  indus- 
tries of  the  New  England  states,  which  were  eagerly  seized  and  put 
into  active  operation.  New  England  grew  rich  and  prosperous  from 
the  weaving  of  cotton  fabrics,  for  which  there  was  no  limit  so  far  as 
demand  was  concerned.  The  prosperity  of  the  western  agricultural 
area  was  New  England's  opportunity. 

The  opening  of  the  coal  and  iron  ore  fields  of  Pennsylvania  fur- 
nished employment  for  the  capital  of  the  Middle  States,  and  the  build- 
ing of  railways  east  of  the  Alleghenies  kept  eastern  capital  so  well 
employed  at  home  as  to  place  an  embargo  upon  its  investment  in 
western  industrial  pursuits. 

For  more  than  half  a  century  the  West  was  simply  a  tributary  to 
the  East,  and  lavishly  did  it  pour  its  gold — the  products  of  the  farms — 
into  the  eastern  markets.     The  building  of  railroads  in  the  West  was 
the  first  demand  for  the  opening  of  eastern  money  bags  that  met  with 
anything  like  favorable  response.    Western  development  grew  in  im-       /* 
portance   and   magnitude.    With   such   financial   encouragement   the 
commercial  center  of  the  country  began  its  slow  western  movement, 
which  stimulated  a  surprising  growth  along  industrial  lines  through        \ 
the  northern  portion  of  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois  and         \ 
Southern  Michigan.     The  increasing  importance  of  Chicago  naturally  ] 

made  her  the  center  of  this  new  movement.     The  conservative  power        / 
of  invested  capital  was  broken  and  the  West  gave  abundant  promise       -^ 
that  sooner  or  later  it  would  become  the  nation's  workshop. 


42 


CHICAGO 


ITS  SUPPLY  OF  RAW  MATERIALS.  43 

It  has  been  said  that  the  demand  for,  and  use  of,  iron  is  the  best 
measure  of  the  nation's  prosperity,  a  declaration  that  has  ample  veri- 
fication in  the  United  States,  and  especially  in  the  West.  The  dis- 
covery in  1844  and  the  opening  of  the  immense  deposits  of  rich  iroiii 
ore  in  the  Vermilion,  Gogebec,  Menominee,  Marquette  and  Mesabe 
ranges,  within  easy  reach  of  Lake  Superior,  afforded  new  possibilities 
for  manufacturing  enterprises.  These  deposits  all  lie  within  a  radius 
of  from  350  to  900  miles  of  Chicago,  while  to  the  south  of  the  city 
are  40,000  square  miles  of  the  best  deposits  of  bituminous  coal  on  the, 
continent. 

The  production  of  iron  ore  in  the  Lake  Superior  region  for  the 
year  1911  was:  Mesabd  Range,  22,093,532  tons;  Guyana  Range, 
147,431  tons;  Vermillion  Range,  1,088,930  tons;  Marquette  Range, 
2,833,116  tons;  Menominee  Range,  3,911,174  tons;  Gogebec  Range, 
2,603,318  tons,  and  miscellaneous,  115,629  tons,  making  a  total  of 
32,793,130  tons,  or  about  8,890,000  tons  less  than  in  1909.  The  totaH 
product  of  iron  ore  in  the  United  States  annually  is  about  50,000,000  ,  Q^ 
tons,  of  which  the  Lake  Superior  region  usually  yields  about  four- 
fifths.  -.  ■ 

Following  the  discovery  of  this  ore  there  was  an  effort  to  estab- 
lish steel  mills  at  the  head  of  Lake  Superior.  There  was  an  abun- 
dance of  iron  ore,  coal  in  profusion  could  be  had  from  Pennsylvania, 
and  it  was  cheaper  to  ship  the  coal  to  the  ore  than  the  ore  to  the  coal. 
But  the  effort  failed.  What  was  the  difficulty?  The  first  obstruction 
was  ,the  absence  of  a  local  market  to  create  a  demand  for  and  the 
use  of  the  product  of  the  furnaces.  That  market  was  all  at  the  East, 
and  what  could  be  saved  by  not  shipping  the  ore  and  manufacturing 
the  iron  at  home  was,  in  a  measure,  counterbalanced  by  the  necessity 
of  transporting  the  finished  products  to  the  East.  Surrounding  indus- 
trial plants  are,  almost  invariably,  a  cordon  of  industries  that  draw 
their  material  from  the  parent  plant.  Adjacent  to  great  iron  indus- 
tries there  will  grow  up  a  collection  of  collateral  interests,  such  as 
factories  for  making  machinery,  large  foundries  and  mills  of  various 
kinds  using  the  pig  iron  for  the  manufacture  of  iron  implements  of  " 

all  kinds,  from  wire  nails  to  steamship  plates.  The  effort  to  establish 
iron  furnaces  near  the  ore  beds  utterly  failed.  Of  this  Lake  Supe- 
rior ore,  5,391,653  tons  was,  in  1911,  shipped  to  the  manufacturing 
district  of  Chicago,  where  it  was  made  into  steel  rails,  structural  and 
every  other  variety  of  mercantile  iron,  which  has  found  a  ready  and 
active  market  almost  at  the  doors  of  the  blast  furnaces.  Chicago  has 
outdistanced  all  other  sections  of  the  country  in  the  number  and  size 


44  •  CHICAGO : 


tt 


of  the  new  iron  mills  of  various  kinds  now  in  progress  of  erection 
within  its  limits  or  contiguous  thereto.  The  iron  and  steel  interests 
have  already  outgrown  Pittsburgh  and  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake 
Michigan  has  been  selected  by  the  demands  of  trade  and  commerce 
for  the  future  development  of  the  industry.  The  completion  of  iron 
mills  now  in  progress  of  construction  at  or  near  Chicago  will  result 
■  in  an  output  of  over  12,000,000  tons  annually. 

Chicago  is  the  largest  lumber  market  in  the  country.  It  is  a  great 
market  not  only  because  of  the  large  quantities  of  lumber  received, 
but  because  of  the  very  large  variety  in  the  kinds  of  woods  which 
make  up  the  stocks  of  the  local  yards.  According  to  the  reports  of 
the  American  Lumberman,  the  total  receipts  of  lumber  for  the  year 
1911  were  2,134,567,000  feet  and  481,193,000  shingles.  The  ship- 
ments of  lumber  aggregated  803,923,000  feet,  most  of  it  to  eastern 

\  points,  the  difference  (1,330,644,000  feet)  showing  the  domestic  con-. 
\  t    sumption.     These  facts  explain  why  Chicago  .is  the  largest  furniture 

I     market  in  the  country,  while  for  pianos,  organs,  carriages,  and  oth€:r 

I     industries  demanding  both  fine  and  rough,  or  common,  lumber,  it  is 

•     not  equaled  on  the  continent. 

As  to  the  uses  to -which  much  of  this  lumber  is  put  in  the  city  of 
Chicago,  the  following  table  compiled  from  a  recent  government 
report  on  the  wood  working  industries  of  this  city  indicates  (in  board 
measure)  the  immense  quantity  of  the  eighty-four  different  varieties 
of  foreign  and  domestic  woods  that  enter^  into  the  industries  of 
Chicago : 

Cars    245,745,500 

%  Boxes  and  crating 273,844,000 

vSash,  doors,  etc 167,072,840 

Farm  machinery 88,181,000 

Furniture 52,918,750 

Pianos  and  organs 36,913,500 

Store,  office  and  bar  fixtures 15,748,500 

\  Cooperage 10,600,000 

SButter  tubs 22,000,000 

'V^Picture  and  fancy  mouldings. 39,943,250 

.       Wagons 11,590,000- 

Tanks   7,810,000 

%  Hardwood  flooring,  etc 24,730,000 

Sewing  machine  parts  600,000 

>>  Baskets  and  fruit  packages 2,750,000 

Chairs    16,262,000 


ITS  SUPPLY  OF  RAW  MATERIALS.  45 

^  Mantels  and  cabinet  work 13,545,000 

Handles    450,000 

Miscellaneous    5,466,000 

Laundry  machines  and  accessories 3,057,000 

Tables    7,612,520 

Couch  frames   5,166,000 

School,  lodge  and  church  furniture 6,527,000 

Electrical  apparatus    ; 7,510,000 

Coffins  and  caskets 5,436,000 

Buggies  and  light  vehicles 1,505,830  -^ 

Parlor  furniture   frames 5,932,660 

Refrigerators 4,354,000 

^  Screens,  window  and  door 4,850,000 

Signs   and  billboards 5,510,000 

Toilet  accessories    4,625,000 

Greenhouses   and  conservatories 4,967,000 

Ladders    2,154,000 

Machine  parts   428,000    -- 

Trunks  and  sample  cases 2,320,000 

Sporting  goods    449,000 

Cigar  boxes 1,821,350 

Meat  blocks 300,000 

V Stairs    '..,, 1,834,000 

Barber  shop  furniture 1,547,000 

Boats ■ 545,000 

Novelties  and  toys 290,000 

Musical  instruments   615,420 

Willow  and  rattan  goods  (given  in  pounds) 

Total    1,116,855,120 

Of  the  total  amount  of  wood  used  in  all  industries  in  Illinois,  62.2 
per  cent  is  used  in  Chicago,  eighty-four  different  varieties  of  wood 
being  made  use  of  in  these  diverse  manufacturing  establishments. 

About  equal  in  importance  to  iron  and  lumber  is  coal.  In  fact, 
without  lumber,  coal  and  iron  ore  would  lose  much  of  their  value. 
Illinois  ranks  third  among  the  states  in  its  output  of  bituminous  coal, 
the  product  being  about  51,000,000  tons  annually,  from  a  coal  area  of 
about  40,000  square  miles,  and  reaching  from  the  Ohio  river  north  to 
within  forty  or  fifty  miles  of  the  city  limits.  Illinois,  with  Iowa, 
Indiana  and  Ohio,  mine  in  the  aggregate  considerably  over  101,000,000 
tons  annually. 


CHICAGO 


Ineham 
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jg^n villa ^> — ~j|y<!eDtral  ^fSonora  ^       _^^ 

^iden^   ■^»-^'^^'!^        gyMunfordviUs    /  t^Janction  City' 


Ft.  EstiU  Je. 


Chicago,  Indianapolis  &  Louisville  Railway  (Monon) 


ITS  SUPPLY  OF  RAW  MATERIALS.  47 

This  coal,  while  of  the  very  best  quality,  is  valued  at  about  $1.10 
per  ton  at  the  mines.  The  coal,  of  which  about  14,000,000  tons  are 
consumed  in  Chicago  annually,  costs  from  $1.50  to  $2.00  per  ton  deliv-^  " 
ered,  depending  on  quality,  cost  of  transportation,  amount  contracted 
for  and  some  other  minor  charges.  Notwithstanding  the  proximity 
of  the  western  coal  fields  to  Chicago,  there  is  considerable  coal  (mostly 
anthracite)  and  coke  used  in  this  city,  brought  from  eastern  mines 
and  ovens. 

Coke  plays  a  very  important  part  in  the  manufacture  of  iron  and 
steel.  Much  of  the  coke  used  in  Chicago  is  from  the  eastern  ovens, 
the  product  of  the  ovens  here  being  about  3,420,000  tons  annually. 

Copper  is  annually  becoming  of  greater  importance  and  value  in  ) 

the  industrial  progress  of  the  entire  country.     The  world's  output  in  f 

1910  was  1,086,249,983  pounds,  of  which  the  United  States  produced  / 

985,402,482  pounds,  or  over  72  per  cent  of  the  total.     The  states  hav-  ) 

ing  the  largest  product  in  the  order  of  volume  are  Montana,  Arizona,  ) 

Michigan,  Utah  and  Nevada,  which  yield  more  than  two-thirds  of  j 

the  total.     Michigan  is  in  close  touch  with  Chicago  by  water,  while  \ 

each  of  the  other  copper  producing  areas  are  connected  by  rail  with  ( 

this  city.     Between  four  and  five  thousand  tons  of  copper  are  received  / 

in  (Hiicago  annually  by  lake  transportation,  where  it  is  manufactured  j 

into  various  articles  of  which  copper  and  brass  form  an  important  \ 

feature.  / 

The  lead  and  zinc  that  come  to  this  market  are  from  the  Joplin  ' 
district,  comprised  of  portions  of  Missouri,  Oklahoma  and  Kansas, 
the  state  of  Illinois,  and  the  state  of  Wisconsin,  all  of  which  districts 
are  directly  tributary  to  Chicago.  The  product  metal  from  these 
districts  in  1910  was  647,229  tons,  as  reported,  of  which  369,164  tons 
was  lead  and  278,065  tons  was  zinc. 

The  use  of  cement  in  the  construction  of  large  buildings,  espe- 
cially those  which  are  to  be  used  for  manufacturing  purposes,  was 
within  the  last  decade  so  universal  as  to  give  that  material  an  import- 
ance second  only  to  steel  and  lumber.  Chicago  has  become  the  log- 
ical market  for  the  cement  product  of  the  three  states  of  Illinois, 
Indiana  and  Michigan,  which  is  about  13,000,000  barrels  annually,  or 
about  one-fourth  the  entire  product  of  the  country.  In  this  market 
it  is  possible  to  concentrate  half  a  million  barrels  of  cement  within 
forty-eight  hours  after  the  demand  occurs.  This  means  that  Chicago 
controls  the  cement  market  of  the  Middle  West.  In  fact,  it  may  be 
truthfully  said  that  because  of  its  central  location  its  superior  advan- 
tages of  both  rail  and  water  transportation,  this  city  covers  a  wider 


CHICAGO : 


field  both  in  the  collection  and  distribution  of  cement  than  any  other 
American  market.  Chicago  cement  entered  into  the  construction  of 
the  Union  railway  station  at  Washington,  as  well  as  in  the  rebuilding 
of  San  Francisco.  In  this  connection  the  following  extract  from  the 
Daily  Consular  and  Trade  Reports,  issued  by  the  government,  is  of 
interest:  "Winnipeg  has  just  concluded  a  contract  to  buy  25,000  bar- 
rels of  cement  from  the  United  States  for  delivery  during  1912.  This 
move  on  the  part  of  the  city  council  was  entirely  unexpected.  Since 
the  merging  of  all  the  cement  interests  of  Canada  under  the  head  of 
the  Canada  Cement  Co.,  it  has  been  generally  believed  that  this  great 
corporation  would  absolutely  control  the  sale  of  cement  in  the 
Dominion. 

When  the  city  asked  for  tenders,  it  was  found  that  a  cement  com-- 
pany  of  Chicago  was  the  lowest  bidder  at  71.43  cents  per  100  pounds, 
including  sacks,  and  60  cents  exclusive  of  sacks.  The  bid  of  the 
Canada  Cement  Co.  was  72.65  cents  per  100  pounds,  including  sacks, 
and  61.22  cents,  exclusive  of  sacks.  The  city  will  save  $3,500  after 
paying  a  duty  of  51^  cents  per  barrel.  In  forwarding  this  bid  the 
Chicago  company  agreed  that  in  case  there  is  a  reduction  in  duty  or 
any  revision  in  freight  rates,  the  city  will  be  given  the  benefit  of  the 
reduction." 

It  is  impossible  in  the  space  at  command  to  give  in  detail  the 
products  classed  as  raw  material  which  are  consumed  in  industrial 
activities  of  this  city.  But  we  enumerate  a  few  only  of  the  more 
prominent  that  are  the  products  of  territory  immediately  tributary  to 
Chicago.  There  are  petroleum,  salt,  leather,  cotton,  wool,  building 
stone,  brick,  marble,  gravel,  sand,  lime  and  some  others  of  lesser 
importance.  No  city,  domestic  or  foreign,  can  claim  a  larger  or 
richer  endowment  of  natural  wealth  than  Chicago. 


ITS  INDUSTRIAL  EXPANSION.  49 


Chicago — Its  Industrial  Expansion 

There  are  no  qualities  that  so  plainly  indicate  the  business  abili- 
ties of  the  people  of  a  country,  or  any  section  of  it,  as  the  ingenuity, 
energy  and  thrift  of  those  who  inhabit  it.  While  merchandizing  and 
banking  always  indicate,  to  some  extent,  the  prosperity  and  business 
qualities  of  the  citizens  of  a  state  or  a  city,  the  manufacturer  must 
be  not  only  a  financier,  but  also  a  salesman;  he  must  provide  the 
means  for  creating  his  products,  as  well  as  possess  the  capacity  to 
dispose  of  them  at  a  remunerative  profit.  In  addition  to  these,  he 
must  be  endowed  with  a  creative  quality  of  mind,  which  is  not  essen- 
tial in  financial  or  commercial  operations.  He  must  originate  some- 
thing to  meet  a  public  want  or  demand,  which  neither  the  banker  or 
merchant  is  required  to  do.  The  people  which  have  made  the  most 
rapid  advancement,  not  only  in  the  increase  of  their  wealth,  but  also 
in  civilization,  education  and  refinement,  are  those  which  contribute 
most  largely  of  the  manufactured  products  which  are  demanded  to 
meet  the  universal  requirements  of  the  world's  population.  In  those 
attainments  what  people  can  claim  precedence  over  the  United  States, 
Great  Britain,  Germany  and  France,  among  which  the  world's  work- 
shops are  located  ? 

What  is  true  of  nations  as  a  whole  is  equally  true  of  the  different 
sections  of  each,  corhpared  one  with  another.  This  is  illustrated  in 
the  past  history  of  our  own  country.  Before  1860  the  South  raised 
its  own  cotton,  but  sent  it  to  New  England  to  be  woven  into  cloth, 
which  the  Southerner  bought  back.  There  was  no  manufacturing 
south  of  Mason  &  Dixon's  line,  and  the  people  were  poor,  colleges 
were  few  and  small,  and  progress  was  slow,  while  New  England 
grew  rich  and  prosperous.  Now  the  South  is  making  its  own  cotton 
fabrics,  smelting  its  own  ores,  building  up  its  own  industries,  diversi- 
fying its  agriculture,  enlarging  its  colleges  to  universities,  and  becom- 
ing rich  and  progressive.  The  song  of  the  shuttle  and  the  trip  ham- 
mer has  awakened  the  South  to  a  new  life  that  is  full  of  energy  and 
activity. 

What  is  the  story  of  Chicago?  In  1825  the  only  machinery  here 
was  the  water  cart  that  peddled  drinking  water,  by  the  pailful,  to  the 
thirsty  pioneer  and  the  pestle  and  mortar  in  which  he  pounded  his 
coffee  and  pepper.  Emigrants  came  to  Chicago  from  the  East  and 
passed  on  to  the  West  because  there  was  nothing  for  them  to  do  on 


50 


CHICAGO : 


The  Chicag[o  Junction  Railway    r~ 

u 

The  Chicago  River  &  Indiana    — 
Railroad 

SHOWING  RAa  AND  WATER  CONNECTIONS  AND 

The  Central  Manufacturing 
District 


ITS  INDUSTRIAL  EXPANSION. 


51 


the  shore  of  the  lake.  These  were  the  pioneers  who  settled  the  coun- 
ties of  Will,  DuPage,  Kane,  Lake  and  Winnebago.  The  early  mechan- 
ics in  Chicago  were  the  blacksmith  and  the  shoemaker. 

But  those  who  passed  through  Chicago,  as  well  as  those  who 
remained,  could  not  long  depend  upon  the  steamboat,  with  its  limita- 
tions to  open  water  in  the  lakes,  and  the  ox  carts  as  the  only  means 
of  reaching  markets  and  for  the  conveyance  of  manufactured  neces- 
sities of  life  therefrom.  The  result  was  that  local  industries  for  sup- 
plying the  people  with  food  and  building  materials  were  among  the 
first  to  be  established  in  Chicago.  It  was  entirely  natural  that  one 
of  the  first,  if  not  the  very  first,  industrial  enterprise  to  be  located 
here  was  a  slaughtering  and  meat  packing  plant,  the  market  prices 
for  its  product  being  from  three  to  five  cents  a  pound.  About  the 
same  time  (1823)  a  blacksmith  shop  was  opened,  a  foundry  in  1835, 
and  a  stove  manufactory  in  1846. 

Prior  to  the  govjernment  census  of  1850  the  statistics  of  manu- 
facturing in  Chicago  were  not  separated  from  those  of  the  county  of 
Cook,  and  it  is  therefore  impossible  to  say  just  how  important  a  part 
the  city  took  in  the  aggregates  credited  to  the  county.  The  follow- 
ing table  shows  the  growth  of  manufacturing  interests  for  each  cen- 
sus between  1850  and  1910,  both  inclusive.  The  early  enumerations 
are  seriously  defective  in  manufacturing  data,  the  census  being 
devoted,  especially  in  the  West,  to  statistics  of  population,  agriculture, 
education,  religion,  and  industrial  occupations  of  the  citizens. 


I 

r 


Num- 
ber 
of 
Indus- 
tries 

Capital 

Cost  of  Raw 
Material 

Number  of 
Wage  Earners 

Value  of 
Product 

1850 

* '  467 
1,440 
3,518 
9,977 

19,203 
8,159 
9,656 

$     1,068,025 

5,420,725 

30,372,276 

68,831,885 

359,739,598 

534,000,689 

637,443,474 

971,841,000 

$    2,562,583 

1860 
1870 
1880 
1890 
1900 
1905 
1910 

$    6,591,445 
60,332,188 
179,194,925 
409,498,027 
538,401,562 
589,913,993 
793,470,000 

5,453 
31,105 
70,391 
190,621 
262,621 
241,984 
293,977 

11,944,229 
92,518,742 
248,995,848 
664,567,923 
888,945,311 
955,036,277 
1,281,171,000 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  number  of  industries  reported  in  1890 
and  1900  are  abnormally  large,  which  is  due  to  the  fact  that  some 
small  establishments,  like  cigar  manufactures,  bakeries,  and  some 
others  of  similar  character  were  dropped  in  succeeding  enumerations, 
as  were  also  different  and  separated  small  shops  owned  by  one  cor- 
poration or  firm,  which  in  later  censuses  have  been  reported  in  the 


62  CHICAGO : 


aggregate  as  one  establishment.  The  rule  now  followed  is  to  include 
under  the  term  "establishments"  all  the  factories,  mills  or  plants 
which  are  located  within  the  same  city,  under  a  common  ownership 
or  control  and  for  which  one  set  of  books  is  kept. 

The  following  table  shows  the  comparative  growth  of  manufac- 
turing in  Chicago,  by  selected  industries  having  an  annual  output  of 

$500,000  or  over,  under  the  censuses  of  1890,  1905  and  1910,  the  sta- 
tistics being  brought  down  to  December  31st  of  the  year: 

Automobiles    1909 $  3,940,000 

1904 354,000 

1899 

Bags,  other  than  paper 1909 965,000 

1904 809,000 

1899 547,000 

Baking  powders  and  yeast. . .  1909 7,009,000 

1904 3,890,000 

1899 3,336,000 

Belting  and  hose  leather 1909 2,188,000 

1904 1,055,000 

1899 1,361,000 

Boots  and  shoes 1909 9,858,000 

1904 6,559,000 

1899 6,814,000 

Boxes,  cigar  1909 541,000 

1904 478,000 

1899 399,000 

Boxes,  fancy  and  paper 1909 5,044,000 

1904 2,825,000 

1899 2,923,000 

Brass  and  bronze  products. . .  1909 5,131,000 

1904 3,195,000 

1899 2,703,000 

Bread  and  bakery  products. . .  1909 26,908,000 

1904 20,654,000 

1899 12,763,000 

Brick  and  tile 1909 1,172,000 

1904 1,573,000 

1899 434,000 

Brooms  and  brushes  .• 1909 1,560,000 

1904 1,048,000 

1899 865,000 


ITS  INDUSTRIAL  EXPANSION.  63 

Canning  and   preserving 1909 $  3,824,000 

1904 3,882,000 

1899 3,545,000 

Carriages  and  wagons 1909 5,203,000 

1904 4,076,000 

1899 3,036,000 

Cars,  steam  roads 1909 18,359,000 

1904 11,172,000 

1899 8,185,000 

Cars,  street 1909 2,758,000 

1904 1,110,000 

1899 1,076,000 

Cars,  other  1909 20,812,000 

1904 23,799,000 

1899 19,108,000 

Chemicals    .1909 1,149,000 

1904 1,724,000 

1899 1,382,000 

Clothing,  men's   1909 86,996,000 

1904 45,626,000 

1899 37,847,000 

Clothing  women^s   '. . . .  1909 15,677,000 

1904 11,637,000 

1899 9,208,000 

Coffee  and  spices,  roasted  and 

ground    1909 :  19,599,000 

1904 15,563,000 

1899 12,612,000 

Coffins  and  burial  cases 1909 1,838,000 

1904 1,297,000 

1899 1,005,000 

Confectionery    1909 11,222,000 

1904 6,550,000 

1899 5,718,000 

Cooperage,  etc 1909 3,368,000 

1904 3,406,000 

1899 2,912,000 

Copper,    tin    and    sheet    iron 

products    1909 12,242,000 

1904 8,137,000 

1899......  8,725,000 


54 


CHICAGO: 


ITS  INDUSTRIAL  EXPANSION.  55 

Corsets    1909 $  1,779,000 

1904 559,000 

1899 395,000 

Cutlery  and  tools 1909 1,895,000 

1904 946,000 

1899 278,000 

Electrical  machinery    1909 20,669,000 

1904 16,292,000 

1899 11,358,000 

Fancy  articles  not  specified. .  1909 1,289,000 

1904 1,664,000 

1899 791,000 

Foundry    and    machine    shop 

products    1909 89,669,000 

1904 68,491,000 

1899 57,721,000 

Fur  goods 1909 1,903,000 

1904 1,421,000 

1899 2,319,000 

Furnishing  goods,  men's 1909 6,122,000 

1904 3,503,000 

1899 3,334,000 

Furniture   1909 20,512,000 

1904 17,622,000 

1899 12,519,000 

Gas  and  electric  fixtures 1909 4,683,000 

1904 2,485,000 

1899 1,630,000 

Gloves  and  mittens,  leather. . .  1909 2,181,000 

1904 1,511,000 

1899 2,240,000 

Grease   and  tallow 1909 4,948,000 

1904 2,303,000 

1899 1,922,000 

Hats  and  caps,  other  than  felt, 

straw   and   wool 1909 1,046,000 

1904 1,027,000 

1899 952,000 

Hosiery  and  knit  goods 1909 1,477,000 

1904 1,309,000 

1899 647,000 


56                                                      CHICAGO: 

Ink,  manufactured 

.1909 

.$           569,000 

1904 

349,000 

1899 

Iron  and  steel 

.1909 

.   .     45,984,000 

1904 

24,840,000 

1899 

.1909 

Jewelry    

2,635,000 

1904 

1,746,000 

1899 

1,606,000 

Leather  goods  

.1909 

5,861,000 

1904 

5,023,000 

' 

1899 

3,858,000 

Leather,  tanned    

.1909 

13,244,000 

1904 

9,420,000 

1899 

6,979,000 

Liquors,  malt    

.1909 

19,512,000 

1904 

16,983,000 

1899 

14,957,000 

Lumber  and  timber  products 

..1909 

32,709,000 

1904 

19,808,000 

1899 

11,536,000 

Marble   and   stonework 

.1909 

3,930,000 

1904 

3,356,000 

1899 

2,061,000 

Mattresses  and  spring  beds . . 

.1909 

2,377,000 

1904 

1,753,000 

1899 

1,488,000 

Models  and  patterns 

.1909 

678,000 

1904 

494,000 

1899 

342,000 

Musical  instruments  and  ma- 

terials not  specified 

.1909 

614,000 

- 

1904 

663,000 

1899 

507,000 

Musical     instruments,     pianos 

and  organs   

.1909 

11,487,000 

1904 

8,488,000 

1899 

6,802,000 

Paints  and  varnish 

.1909 

18,942,000 

1904 

12,665,000 

1899 

8,096,000 

ITS  INDUSTRIAL  EXPANSION.  57 


Patent  medicines   1909 $  10,360,000 

1904 11,942,000 

1899 5,912,000 

Photographic  apparatus   1909 740,000 

1904 802,000 

1899 494,000 

Photo  engraving   1909 2,156,000 

1904 1,324,000 

1899 1,061,000 

Printing  and  publishing 1909 74,211,000 

1904 53,033,000 

1899 36,238,000 

Slaughtering  and  packing. . . .  1909. .....  325,062,000 

1904 270,549,000 

1899 257,250,000 

Smelting    and    refining     (not 

ores)  1909 2,574,000 

1904 1,140,000 

1899 278,000 

Soap    1909 19,939,000 

1904 13,770,000 

1899 9,065,000 

Stereotyping    and    electrotyp- 

ing    1909 1,282,000 

1904 1,165,000 

1899 673,000 

Stoves  and  furnaces 1909 3,183,000 

1904 2,138,000 

1899 

Surgical  appliances  1909 2,075,000 

1904 1,004,000 

1899 513,000 

Tobacco  manufactured 1909 16,633,000 

1904 11,017,000 

1899 8,174,000 

Type  founding  1909 1,248,000 

1904 1,168,000 

1899 1,257,000 

All  industries  1909 1,281,171,000 

1904 955,036,000 

1899 797,879,000 


68 


CHICAGO : 


ITS  INDUSTRIAL  EXPANSION. 


59 


Large  as  these  figures  may  appear,  they  by  no  means  represent  the 
total  industries  in  which  Chicago  is  interested.  Manufacturing  plants 
owned  and  operated  by  Chicago  manufacturing  concerns,  the  products 
of  which  are  marketed  in  this  city,  are  very  widely  scattered  not  only 
through  the  county  of  Cook,  but  also  through  neighboring  states,  and 
these  are  credited,  by  the  census,  to  the  place,  town  or  city  in  which 
such  plants  are  located.  There  are  Chicago-owned  tanneries  in  Wis- 
consin, furniture  manufactories,  and  iron  and  steel  mills  in  Indiana, 
Michigan  and  Iowa;  ladies'  wearing  apparel  in  various  cities  of  this 
state;  laces,  cotton  cloth  and  woolen  goods  in  Illinois;  agricultural 
implements  outside  the  city  limits;  saw  mills,  wagon  and  carriage 
stock  manufactories  in  numerous  localities  in  other  states,  and  various 
equally  important  factories  and  mills  are  to  be  found  at  frequent 
intervals  within  the  radius  of  a  night's  ride  from  Chicago. 

The  following  table  of  manufactures  from  the  census  of  1905 
shows  the  importance,  as  an  industrial  area,  of  the  territory  within  a 
few  hours'  ride  of  this  city,  and  explains  why  it  is  the  center  of  indus- 
trial activity  of  the  United  States: 


United  States 

Area  Within  a 

Night's  Ride  of 

Chicago 

Per  Cent 

Area  Forms 

of  United 

States 

Number  of  establishments. 

Value  of  products 

Cost  of  materials  used.  .  .  . 

Salaries  and  wages 

Miscellaneous  and  expenses 
Value    added    by    manu- 
facture    (products    less 

cost  of  material) 

Employes — 

Number      of      salaried 
officials  and  clerks  .  . . 
Average  number  of  wage 
earners  employed  dur- 
ing the  vear 

216,262 

$14,802,147,000 

8,503,950,000 

3,186,302,000 

1,455,019,000 

6,298,197,000 

519,751 

5,470,321 

71,493 

$4,674,100,506 

2,697,739,141 

892,619,914 

519,958,754 

1,975,363,365 

180,064 

1,436,606 

33.5 
31.6 
31.8 
28.0 
36.3 

31.2 

34.6 

26.2 

60 


CHICAGO: 


CHICAGO'S  MANUFACTURES— FROM  CENSUS  OF  1910 


Year 

No. 

Pro- 
prietors 

Salaried 
Employes 

Wage  Earners 

Total 
Paid  Wages 

1899 
1904 
1909 

7668 
8159 
9656 

7^269  * 
8,156 

32,406 
40,276 
54,821 

221,191 
241,984 
293,977 

$108,727,000 
136,405,000 
174,112,000 

Year 

Capital 

Cost  of  Material 

Value  of  Product 

Value  Added  by 
Manufacture 

1899 
1904 
1909 

$511,249,000 
637,743,000 
971,841,000 

$502,222,000 
589,914,000 
793,470,000 

$797,879,000 

955,036,000 

1,281,171,000 

$295,657,000 
365,122,000 
487,701,000 

ITS  INDUSTRIAL  DISTRICTS.  61 

VI. 

Chicago— Its  Industrial  Districts 

In  nearly  every  progressive  town  and  city  of  the  United  States 
there  is  being  waged  an  energetic  campaign  to  secure  the  location  of 
industrial  enterprises.  In  a  large  majority  of  these  cases  very  little 
consideration  is  given  to  the  prerequisites  absolutely  essential  to  the 
profitable  operation  of  the  industries  sought.  Questions  of  trans- 
portation, of  raw  materials,  of  labor  supply,  of  cost  of  living,  and 
many  others  are  overlooked  entirely  or  are  not  given  the  considera- 
tion they  deserve.  Educational  advantages,  home  requirements,  and 
religious  conditions  are  seldom  mentioned,  unless  the  place  is  large 
enough  to  be  endowed  with  these  evidences  of  a  cultivated  society,  in 
which  esthetic  tastes  have  already  been  developed  and  are  supplied 
with  whatever  the  people  desire  and  appreciate. 

In  the  struggle  of  ambitious  communities  it  is  too  often  forgotten 
that  it  is  not  enough  to  induce  either  more  factories  to  locate  within 
their  limits  or  to  increase  the  local  production  of  more  merchandise. 
An  attendant  and  imperative  duty  is  to  make  such  provision  that  the 
increased  production  of  manufactured  goods  shall  not  conduce  to, 
or  encourage,  such  a  congestion  of  population  within  an  area  already 
overcrowded  as  will  tend  to  the  detriment  of  the  public  welfare,  the 
protection  of  which  is  of  infinitely  more  importance  than  the  mere 
increase  of  trade  and  commerce,  desirable  as  that  may  be.  In  a 
word,  the  desire  to  locate  industries  should  not  be  strong  enough  to 
defeat  or  limit  the  social  growth  of  the  community. 

Factories  should  be  erected  only  in  localities  set  apart  for  their 
occupancy,  but  yet  made  accessible  by  the  means  of  transportation 
required  in  the  carrying  on  of  the  business  for  which  they  are  con- 
structed and  for  the  convenience  of  the  employes  upon  which  the 
industries  depend  for  labor.  Industrial  establishments  should  be 
strictly  excluded  from  the  residential  sections  of  the  town,  as  well  as 
from  its  mercantile  quarter.  They  should  not  be  permitted  to  locate 
where  they  would  be  endangered  by  fire,  nor  where  they  themselves 
would  be  a  menace  by  fire  to  other  near-by  buildings  of  any  character. 
In  some  of  the  modern  American  cities  this  subject  has  been  wisely 
met.  The  securing  of  a  new  industry  may  be  a  credit  to  any  city, 
but  it  is  so  only  when  the  site  of  the  industry,  the  character  of  the 
buildings  and  the  conduct  of  the  business  engaged  in,  contribute  to 
the  welfare  of  the  community  as  a  whole. 


62 


CHICAGO : 


M     O 


MAP  or  THC 

Chicago,  Terre  Haute  &  Soutfieastem 
Railway 

"SOUTHEASTERN  LINE" 


ITS  INDUSTRIAL  DISTRICTS.  63 

In  the  early  history  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  when  its  importance  as 
an  industrial  center  first  began  to  attract  the  attention  of  local  opera- 
tors, the  demand  for  manufactured  products  was  almost  entirely  local 
or,  at  most,  required  to  supply  the  territory  immediately  adjacent  to 
the  river.  Land  was  cheap  and  sites  were  small.  The  advent  of  the 
railroads  and  the  settlement  of  the  prairies  North  and  West  of  the 
city  widened  the  market  for  Chicago's  products  and  this  demand 
necessitated  enlarged  manufacturing  facilities. 

The  city  also  rapidly  increased  in  population  which  enhanced  the 
price  of  real  estate  in  and  near  the  heart  of  the  city.  The  land  was 
required  for  homes  and  stores.  Gradually  the  shops  and  factories 
were  crowded  out,  and,  as  a  rule,  they  sought  locations  along  the  lines 
of  the  railroads.  But  here  another  difficulty  was  encountered.  A 
manufacturer  located  on  a  line  running  east,  in  case  he  wished  to  ship 
his  goods  west  or  south,  was  compelled  to  transport  his  products  by 
means  of  drays,  frequently  long  distances,  to  a  road  reaching  the 
consignee  and  this  was  enormously  expensive.  In  fact  it  has  been 
estimated  that  more  money  was  annually  expended  for  trucking  in 
Chicago  that  was  received  by  some  of  the  largest  railway  systems 
having  terminals  in  the  city.  The  trucking  conditions  worked  as 
disastrously  in  the  receiving  of  goods,  wares  and  merchandise  as 
in  their  outgoing.  This  difficulty  could  only  be  met  by  the  building 
of  what  is  now  known  as  the  belt  lines,  which  connect  all  the  roads 
with  each  other,  greatly  facilitating  and  cheapening  the  movement 
of  freight,  reducing  the  necessity  for  drayage  to  a  minimum. 

But  these  belt  railroads,  or  switching  tracks,  of  which  there  are 
twQlve,  have  had  a  very  important  influence  on  the  growth  of  the 
entire  city.  They  have  resulted  in  the  creation  of  manufacturing  dis- 
tricts in  which  industries  have  sought  locations,  outside  of  the  resi- 
dence quarters  of  the  city,  where  their  buildings  are  not  menaced  by 
fire  nor  do  they  threaten  dwellings  with  destruction,  ample  provisions 
against  local  fires  having  been  made.  These  districts  are  situated  in 
localities  that  are  not  inviting  for  residences  of  proprietors  or  for  the 
homes  of  the  employes  and,  therefore,  they  do  not  tend  to  congestion 
of  the  districts  with  population  of  any  description.  The  various  iines 
of  street  cars,  or  electric  roads,  run  to  nearly,  if  not  quite  all,  of 
these  districts  furnishing  employes  cheap  and  easy  means  of  travel 
between  their  homes  and  places  of  employment. 

There  are  in  all  eighteen  of  these  manufacturing  districts  scattered 
about  in  every  division  of  the  city,  and  adjacent  territory,  and  all  are 
so  located  that  they  are  easily  supplied  with  power  to  any  required 


64  CHICAGO 


extent.  The  management  of  these  tracts  varies  greatly.  As  a  rule 
they  are  owned  by  associations,  some  of  which  sell  sites  outright; 
others  rent  the  land  for  a  term  of  years,  the  lessee  erecting  his  own 
buildings;  while  others  will  lease  the  land  and  erect  the  buildings 
with  privilege  of  purchase  at  a  stipulated  period  and  valuation. 

There  is  no  city  ordinance  regulating  the  location  of  manufactur- 
ing establishments  nor  is  any  seeker  for  a  location  obliged  to  select 
a  site  in  any  of  these  districts,  but  the  advantages  of  doing  so  are  so 
great  that  a  prospective  purchaser  will  naturally  see  the  expediency 
of  locating  upon  some  one  of  them.  Should  a  company  or  corporation 
require  a  larger  tract  than  any  of  the  manufacturing  districts  can 
offer  him,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  making  such  a  purchase  as  is  evi- 
denced by  the  fact  that  quite  recently  an  Eastern  corporation  pur- 
chased a  plat  of  370  acres  outside  of  a  district  upon  which  to  erect 
its  works.  The  extent  of  a  purchase  in  any  section  of  the  Manufac- 
turing Zone  of  Chicago  is  limited  only  by  the  volume  of  the  capital 
it  is  proposed  to  invest  in  the  plant. 


ITS  TRANSPORTATION  FACILITIES.  65 

VIL 

Chicago— Its  Transportation  Facilities 

Lord  Bacon  uttered  a  great  truth  when  he  said,  "There  are  three 
things  which  make  a  nation  great  and  prosperous;  a  fertile  soil,  busy- 
workshops  and  easy  transportation  for  men  and  goods  from  place 
to  place."  Hon  J.  E.  Ransdell,  member  of  congress,  gave  his  endorse- 
ment of  that  truth  when  he  said,  "The  question  of  transportation  is 
the  most  important  one  before  the  civilized  world.  The  nation  which 
solves  it  quickest  is  bound  to  win  in  the  race  for  commercial 
supremacy."  More  to  the  direct  point  is  the  statement  made  in  the 
Government  report  on  the  Isthmian  Canal:  "Whatever  affects  the 
transportation  facilities  of  the  Central  West  touches  its  economic  life 
at  the  very  center."  Neither  nations  nor  cities  can  ignore  the  question 
of  transportation  if  growth  and  commercial  supremacy  are  the  ends 
to  be  sought.  These  assertions  are  all  based  on  the  lines  of  national 
progress  since  the  vast  improvements  occasioned  by  improved  water- 
ways and  the  construction  of  railroads  have  lent  such  a  stimulus  to 
the  movement  of  merchandise  of  all  varieties  to  the  markets  of  the 
world. 

Within  the  last  half  century  the  industrial  character  of  the  United 
States  has  been  radically  changed  and  modified.  In  its  colonial  days 
the  people  were  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
looking  to  England  for  such  manufactured  products  as  they  required. 
Following  the  revolutionary  war,  and  the  securing  of  their  independ- 
ence, national  pride  stimulated  the  people  to  supply  their  own  require- 
ments for  manufactured  goods  from  domestic  industries.  The  prog- 
ress made  was  comparatively  slow  because  with  the  rude  agricultural 
implements  employed  in  the  raising  and  harvesting  of  crops  it  required 
almost  90  per  cent  of  the  male  population  to  raise  the  necessaries  of 
life.  The  sowing  of  wheat,  which  constituted  the  main  article  of 
food,  the  reaping  of  it  with  the  old-fashioned  cradle,  and  the  thresh- 
ing of  it  with  a  flail,  required  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  popula- 
tion to  furnish  food. 

With  the  invention  of  the  gang  plow,  the  mower  and  reaper,  the 
threshing  machine  and  other  agricultural  implements  the  number  of 
persons  required  to  produce  food  dropped  gradually  to  thirty-three 
per  cent,  releasing  a' very  large  number  to  enter  the  gainful  pursuits 
and  manufacturing  began  to  assume  importance  and  to  supply  many 
of  the  goods  and  merchandise  that  had  previously  been  imported  from 


CHICAGO : 


Chicago  Union 

Transfer  Raibvay  Co. 

Clearing  Yards 

General  Office 

1730  Tribune  Building 

Chicago,  111. 


.  Mi^MI;  *  Oil.  tiTiiiin. 


ITS  TRANSPORTATION  FACILITIES.  67 

foreign  countries.  Cities  sprang  up  along  the  streams  and  rivers  where 
water-power  was  available.  Gradually  the  character  of  the  population 
was  changed  from  agriculturists  to  handicraftsmen  and  mechanics, 
streams  were  improved,  canals  were  dug  for  the  conveyance  of  freight 
and  railroads  were  built  to  furnish  more  general  and  rapid  distribution 
of  both  the  products  of  the  mills  and  factories  as  well  as  of  the  field. 

In  those  early  days  New  England  was  the  chief  source  of  supply 
for  manufactured  goods,  but  with  the  growth  of  population  the  indus- 
trial center  of  the  country  followed  the  trend  of  population  to  the 
West.  The  manufacturing  center  of  the  country,  based  upon  the  gross 
valuation  of  manufactured  products,  has  moved  to  the  West  with 
less  rapidity  than  has  the  center  of  population  and  has  pursued  a 
course  considerably  north  of  that  taken  by  immigration.  In  1890  the 
industrial  center  of  the  country  was  seven  or  eight  miles  southwest  of 
Canton,  Ohio.  In  the  next  decade  it  had  moved  west  about  75  miles 
to  a  point  three  miles  south  of  Loudonville,  in  that  state.  It  has  not 
changed  its  course  or  the  rapidity  of  its  advance  and  is  now  in  the 
vicinity  of  Marion,  Ohio,  rather  north  of  that  place. 

Theoretically  the  industrial  growth  of  a  country  is  governed  by 
the  location  of  its  natural  resources  and  its  natural  lines  of  transporta- 
tion. 

The  volume  of  the  agricultural  products  of  the  territory  adjacent  \ 
to  Chicago,  and  the  natural  outlet  for  them  by  way  of  the  Great  Lakes,  | 
created  the  necessity  for  a  city  of  supplies  at  the  southern  extremity 
of  Lake  Michigan.    The  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal,  in  1826^  was  the  i 
only  requisite  necessary  to  insure  the  large  and  rapid  growth  of  Chi- 
cago, and  to  that  waterway  Chicago  is  chiefly  indebted  for  its  present 
position.     But  it  required  seven  days  to  reach  the  Atlantic  Seaboard 
and  besides  there  remained  a  period  each  year  of  practically  three 
months  when  this  route  was  blocked  by  ice.    Fortunately  the  era  of « 
railroad  construction  began  when  Chicago  had  assumed  a  commercial 
importance  that  made  her  the  objective  point  for  railway  lines  either  j 
east  or  west.  The  East  demanded  the  wheat  and  corn  from  the  prairies  ^ 
of  Illinois  and  Iowa,  and  the  West  required  the  products  of  the  East- 
ern mills,  factories  and  forges  and  willingly  ''paid  the  freight"  both 
ways  as  she  has  done  ever  since  and  is  doing  today.     It  was  not  the  \ 
railroads  that  made  Chicago,  although  they  were  important  factors  in    i 
its  growth,  but  it  was  rather  Chicago  that  made  the  railroads    the 
great  trunk  lines  they  have  in  later  years  become. 

The  great  impetus  in  railroad  construction  dates  from  about  1846, 
at  which  time  the  mileage  of  railroads  then  in  operation  was  4,930 


CHICAGO; 


miles,  practically  all  of  it  being  in  the  New  England  and  middle  states. 
There  is  now  in  operation  in  the  country  practically  240,000  miles  of 
railroad,  of  which  the  following  twenty-seven  railways,  making  thirty- 
two  main  trunk  lines,  have  terminals  in  Chicago.  The  aggregate 
mileage  of  these  roads  is  85,009.43  miles. 

A.  T.  &  S.  Fe  Ry.  Co 7,613.08 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  R 4,433.02 

Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  R.  R 50.00 

Chicago  &  Alton  R.  R 1,025.61 

Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  R.  R 9,074.14 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio  R.  R.  of  Indiana 2,241.60 

Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  R.  R 1,275.38 

Chicago  Great  Western  R.  R 1,492.16 

Chicago,  Indianapolis  &  Louisville  Ry 616.00 

Chicago,  Indiana  &  Southern  R.  R.  Co 358.00 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  Puget  Sound  Ry 2,058.74 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry 7,511.56 

Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ry 7,761.90 

Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Ry 7,551.16 

Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ry. .  2,010.44 

Chicago,  Terre  Haute  &  Southeastern  Ry 326.00 

Erie  R.  R 1,995.40 

Grand  Trunk  Ry 4,711.00 

Illinois  Central  R.  R 4,755.25 

Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ry 1,719.26 

Michigan  Central  R.  R 1,804.77 

Minneapolis,  St.  Paul  &  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Ry . .  3,769.64 

New  York,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  R.  R 561.59 

Pennsylvania  R.  R.  Co 3,978.30 

Pere  Marquette  R.  R 2,333.20 

P.  C.  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry.  (Pan  Handle) 1,467.63 

Wabash  R.  R 2,514.60 

85,009.43 

There  seems  to  be  some  difference  of  opinion,  even  among  railway 
officials,  as  to  what  constitutes  a  "main  trunk  line"  of  railroad.  While 
we  have  twenty-seven  different  railroad  corporations  they  reach  widely 
separated  terminals  east  and  west,  north  and  south.  The  Financial 
Chronicle  in  its  Railway  and  Industrial  Section  of  July  29,  1911,  in 
speaking  of  one  of  Chicago's  belt  roads,  says  that  it  connects  "with  all 
the  thirty-two  main  trunk  lines  entering  Chicago."    A  railroad  with 


ITS  TRANSPORTATION  FACILITIES. 


one  line  reaching  from  Chicago  to  St.  Paul,  another  to  Galveston, 
another  to  New  Mexico  and  another  to  Denver,  although  converging 
at  and  using  the  same  track  into  Chicago,  might  properly  be  said  to 
be  made  up  of  several  main  trunk  lines. 

Some  of  these  railway  corporations  have  branches,  which  serve 
as  feeders,  connecting  with  the  main  line,  and  this  main  line,  with 
its  feeders,  or  branches,  make  up  what  is  known  as  a  railway  system. 
With  the  more  or  less  remote  terminals  of  these  systems,  Chicago  is 
connected  only  by  the  main  or  trunk  line  which  has  its  terminal  in 
this  city.  For  instance,  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad 
has  a  main,  or  trunk,  line  9,074  miles  in  length.  It  also  has  branches 
with  an  aggregate  mileage  of  2,705  miles,  forming  a  railway  system  of 
11,779  miles. 

The  names  and  mileage  of  the  railway  systems  having  terminals 
in  Chicago  are : 

Miles. 

A.  T.  &  S.  Fe 10,600.53 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  5,568.97 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio 2,594.10 

Chicago  &  Northwestern  9,845.35 

Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 11,779.11 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 9,737.55 

Erie   2,567.08 

Grand  Trunk   5,247.00 

Illinois   Central    8,247.82 

New  York  Central   13,341.74 

Pennsylvania    11,198.62 

Rock  Island   8,157.86 

St.  Louis  &  San  Francisco  (Frisco)   7,524.67 

Wabash   3,085.10 

109,495.50 

Chicago  terminals  reach  every  section  of  the  United  States,  and 
one  or  more  through  passenger  and  freight  trains  pass  daily  between 
Chicago  and  Portland,  Oregon,  Seattle,  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles, 
El  Paso,  Galveston,  New  Orleans,  Mobile,  Jacksonville,  Baltimore, 
Newport,  Va.,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston,  Portland,  Me., 
Quebec,  Montreal,  Duluth,  Winnipeg  and  intermediate  points. 

There  is  no  city  on  the  earth  that  has  so  vast  a  range  of  territory 
with  which  it  is  brought  into  daily  contract  as  Chicago  and,  when 
the  distribution  of  its  manufactories  and  commercial  establishments  are 


Id 


CHICAGO : 


I 

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CO 

I 

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i 

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c/tyy.x./eh^ 


><«  ■JDDQ/ 


ITS  TRANSPORTATION   FACILITIES.  71 

concerned  no  other  center  can  reach  so  large  a  number  of  both  con- 
sumers and  producers  as  can  the  City  of  Chicago. 

Another  large  feature  of  this  situation  is  that  no  railroad  or  railway     i 
system  runs  a  train  through  this  city — all  trains  stop  here,  and  are  made 
up  here  for  the  journey  or  shipments  beyond.     Chicago  is  the  abso- 
lute terminal  of  every  railroad  train  that  enters  it.    This  gives  Cfiicag^''^ 
shipping  facilities  that  have  no  equal  anywhere  in  the  world. 

Besides  these  large  systems  there  are  thirteen  belt  or  transfer  lines 
used  in  the  exchange  of  freight  from  one  road  to  another,  and  from 
and  to  shippers. 

BELT  OR  TRANSFER  RAILROADS. 

Miles. 

1.  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Chicago  Terminal  R.R..  289.00 

2.  Belt  Railway  of  Chicago 101.44 

3.  Chicago  Junction  Railway 203.00 

4.  Chicago  River  &  Indiana  R.  R 50.00 

5.  Chicago  Union  Transfer  Railway   100.00 

6.  Chicago,  West  Pullman  &  Southern  R.  R. .  10.00 

7.  Chicago  &  Calumet  River  Ry 12.00 

8.  Elgin,  Joliet  &  Eastern  Ry 198.53 

9.  Indiana  Harbor  Belt  R.  R 108.60 

10.  Illinois  Northern  Ry 12.00 

11.  Manufacturers  Junction  Ry 3.03 

12.  Chicago  Short  Line 17.80 

13.  Chicago  &  Illinois  Western 54.00 

1,159.40 

This  makes  the  total  railroad  mileage  of  Chicago  86,168.83  miles 
A  tentative  switching  arrangement  is  in  effect  within  the  switching 
limits  of  Chicago,  the  purpose  of  which  is  to  equalize  rates  on  traffic 
moving  in  and  out  of  the  city. 

This  arrangement  is  reciprocal  by  agreement  between  the  railroads 
under  the  terms  of  which  carriers  apply  Chicago  rates  on  all  carload 
traffic  to  and  from  all  industries,  warehouses  and  elevators  having 
private  sidings  regardless  of  where  located,  provided  only  that  such 
location  is  within  the  Chicago  district  and  charges  amount  to  $15,00 
per  car  or  more.  This  application  of  Chicago  rates  is  provided  for 
by  the  line  bringing  the  traffic  into  or  taking  the  traffic  out  of  the  city 
absorbing  such  connecting  line  switching  charges  as  may  be  necessary 
to  make  delivery  to  or  receive  from  industry,  warehouse  or  elevator 
from  or  to  which  traffic  moves.    In  other  words,  irrespective  of  what 


72  CHICAGO 


part  of  the  Chicago  switching  district  an  industry  is  located  in,  the 
Chicago  rates  apply  and  switching  charges  are  paid  out  of  its  earnings 
by  the  line  hauling  the  traffic. 

The  above  is  the  general  plan.  There  are,  of  course,  exceptions 
and  included  in  the  arrangement  are  certain  other  agreements  among 
the  railroads  as  to  charges  to  be  assessed  for  performing  switching 
service,  etc. 

Significant  as  this  array  of  facts  regarding  Chicago's  transporta- 
tion facilities,  it  does  not  take  into  account  the  additional  advantages 
given  by  water  transportation  on  the  Great  Lakes.  From  the  port  of 
Chicago  the  seventeen  steamship  lines  send  their  vessels  to  all  points 
between  Buffalo  and  Duluth.  These  are  the  Anchor  Line;  Benton 
Transit  Co. ;  Canada  Atlantic  Transit  Co. ;  Chicago  &  Duluth  Transpor- 
tation Co. ;  Chicago  &  South  Haven  Steamship  Co. ;  Chicago,  Racine  & 
Milwaukee  Line;  Crawford  Transportation  Co.;  Erie  &  Western 
Transportation  Co.;  Goodrich  Transit  Co.;  Graham  &  Morton  Trans- 
portation Co. ;  Hill  Steamboat  Line ;  Indiana  Transportation  Co. ;  Lud- 
ington  Transportation  Co.;  Michigan,  Indiana  &  Illinois  Line;  North- 
ern Michigan  Transportation  Co.;  Northern  Steamship  Co.;  Western 
Transit  Co. 

The  volume  of  the  passenger  traffic  by  these  lines  has  been  rapidly 
increasing  within  the  last  decade.  From  data  given  out  by  the  depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  Labor  it  appears  that  during  the  season  of 
1911  the  number  of  passengers  carried  on  the  Great  Lakes,  west  of 
Toledo  and  Detroit,  was  12,601,097,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  tourists. 
Commenting  upon  this  rather  surprising  evidence  of  the  growing 
popularity  of  the  Great  Lakes  with  Summer  Tourists  a  Boston  paper 
says:  "A  remarkable  thing  is  that  the  Great  Lakes  seem  to  attract 
this  patronage  naturally.  Except  as  a  side  issue,  little  is  done  to 
promote  lake  travel.  This  may  be  said  with  full  regard  for  the  fact 
that  some  handsome  passenger  vessels  ply  between  the  larger  cities 
and  Summer  resorts,  and  without  losing  sight  of  the  fact  that  excur- 
sions out  of  large  cities  are  numerous  during  the  months  of  pleasant 
sailing.     But  even  these  draw  by  their  own  attractive  force." 

The  extent  of  this  lake  commerce  is  shown  by  the  year's  business 
at  the  port  of  Chicago  for  1911,  which  was  as  follows :  Arrivals,  5,924; 
registered  tonnage,  7,935,969;  clearances,  5,954;  registered  tonnage, 
8,021,036.  Arrivals  and  clearances,  11,878;  registered  tonnage, 
15,957,008.  The  cargo  tonnage  in  1909  was  10,379,759,  and  in  1910, 
11,527,631.  The  principal  receipts  in  1911  were:  Hard  coal,  969,231 
tons;  soft  coal,  560,093  tons;  salt,  209,134  tons;  iron  ore,  4,086,276 


ITS  TRANSPORTATION   FACILITIES.  73 

tons;  lumber,  280,195  tons;  posts,  168,264;  railroad  ties,  726,050; 
sugar,  81,828  tons;  wheat,  641,883  bushels;  merchandise,  781,206  tons. 
The  principal  shipments  were:  Flour,  2,837,725  barrels;  wheat, 
14,508,973  bushels;  corn,  47,964,539  bushels;  oats,  10,759,852  bushels; 
oil,  643,179  barrels;  merchandise,  461,845  tons;  oil  cake,  10,002  tons; 
manufactured  iron  60,015  tons. 

The  rapid  increase  of  the  lake  commerce  has  demonstrated  the' 
necessity  for  enlarged  facilities  in  handling  freight  and  passengers 
during  the  navigation  period.  When  a  200-foot  freighter  was  about 
the  limit  of  the  lake  steamers,  short  turns  in  the  river,  bridges  and 
the  like  were  not  a  menace  to  navigating  the  river.  But  now  with 
freighters  over  600  feet  in  length,  and  carrying  18,000  tons  of  freight, 
shallow  water,  bridges  and  short  curves  in  the  branches  of  the  Chicago 
river  have  been  menaces  to  the  business  of  the  port.  It  has  been  decided 
to  build  an  outer  harbor  for  the  receipt  and  transshipment  of  freight 
and  passengers. 

Four  outer  harbor  sites  along  Chicago's  lake  front  were  established 
by  the  City  Council  in  November,  1911,  the  ordinances  providing  for 
the  following  districts: 

No.  1.  From  the  mouth  of  Chicago  river  north  to  Chicago  Ave- 
nue and  extending  one  mile  into  Lake  Michigan. 

No.  2.  From  the  mouth  of  Chicago  river  south  to  Randolph 
Street  and  extending  one  mile  into  the  lake. 

No.  3.  From  the  south  end  of  Grant  Park  south  to  Thirty-first 
Street  and  extending  one  mile  into  the  lake. 

No.  4.  All  of  the  Calumet  river  within  this  city  and  all  of  Lake 
Calumet. 

Another  ordinance  was  presented  at  the  same  time  providing  for 
a  fifth  district  along  the  south  shore,  through  which  vessels  will  have 
to  pass  before  entering  the  inner  harbor  designated  as  District  No.  4. 
Preliminary  plans  for  the  harbor  have  been  prepared  by  the  engineer- 
ing corps  of  the  city  and  the  harbor  will  be  constructed.  These  har- 
bors will  be  for  the  handling  of  passengers  and  package  freight,  an 
industrial  harbor  for  heavy  freight,  like  coal,  lumber,  iron  ore  and 
the  like  will  be  provided  elsewhere.  With  these  necessary  improve- 
ments completed  Chicago  will  have  the  finest  inland  harbor  in  the 
world. 

Another  project  which  will  add  greatly  to  the  importance  of  Chi- 
cago's commerce  will  be  the  completion  of  the  Lakes-to-the-Gulf  Deep 
Waterway,  which  is  certain  to  be  constructed.    The  Middle  West,  of 


74 


CHICAGO : 


ITS  TRANSPORTATION  FACILITIES.  75 

which  Chicago  is  the  commercial  center,  is  the  greatest  freight  pro-^ 
ducing  region  in  the  world,  its  annual  tonnage  being  estimated  at  I 
22,000,000,000  tons.  It  is  4,000  miles  in  width  from  east  to  west  and' 
about  2,000  miles  in  length  from  north  to  south.  It  has  54  navigable 
waterways  having  a  mileage  of  13,869  miles.  Upon  the  opening  of 
the  Panama  Canal  this  vast  area,  as  large  as  Germany  and  France 
combined,  must  be  depended  upon  to  furnish  the  larger  portion  of 
the  tonnage  for  that  artificial  water  course.  \ 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate,  with  any  degree  of  accuracy,  the  great 
advantages  that  will  accrue  to  Chicago  from  the  increase  of  its  trans- 
portation facilities  by  the  completion  of  the  Lak^s-to-the-Gulf  Deep  ^ 
Waterway.  While  the  entire  Middle  West  is  gridironed  with  railroads, 
all  of  which  are  directly  tributary  to  this  city,  nothing  is  required  so 
much  as  some  means  that  will  equalize  the  rates  of  transportation 
throughout  the  entire  Mississippi  Valley  and  which  will,  at  the  same 
time,  prevent  the  congestion  of  traffic  at  terminal  points,  which  is  now^ 
of  very  frequent  occurrence.  Rapid  as  has  been  the  construction  of*^. 
railways  in  the  West  the  roads  have  not  kept  pace  with  the  enormous  \ 
industrial  and  agricultural  development  in  this  section  of  the  United 
States  and  the  result  has  been  that  business  has  been  badly  crippled 
by  the  inadequacy  of  far-reaching  transportation.  Valuable  and  impor- 
tant as  the  railroads  are  in  this  movement  of  property  and  persons, 
they  cannot  meet  the  growing  requirements  of  the  business  interests 
because  of  the  vast  outlay  required  and  the  time  demanded  for  such 
expansion  of  facilities  even  if  the  money  to  complete  it  was  in  hand. 
If  existing  transportation  facilities  have  been  the  chief  factors  in  the 
building  of  this  city,  what  would  be  the  effect  of  adding  to  the  present 
highways  of  commerce  16,000  miles  of  waterways  which  the  improve- 
ment of  the  navigable  streams  in  the  Middle  West  would  give  Chi- 
cago ?  The  completion  of  the  Lakes-to-the-Gulf  Deep  Waterway  would 
bring  tide  water  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan  and  by  utilizing  the  ^ 
iron,  coal  and  lumber  so  easily  assembled  there,  would  enable  Chicago 
to  compete  with  the  Clyde  in  the  industry  of  building  steel  ships  for 
both  commercial  and  naval  purposes.  This  is  far  less  of  a  dream  now 
than  Chicago  itself  was  fifty  years  ago. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  speculate  in  the  results  to  Chicago  as  an  indus- 
trial and  commercial  center  which  will  follow  the  completion  of  the 
Panama  Canal.  Keen  observers,  like  James  J.  Hill,  are  making  large 
investment  in  preparation  for  that  event.  The  trade  of  the  Orient 
will  mean  to  the  Pacific  coast  what  European  commerce  has  meant  to 
the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  Mr.  Hill  gives  it  as  his  conviction  that 
"When  the  Pacific  coast  states  shall  have  a  population  of  20,000,000, 
I  as  they  will,  then  Chicago  will  be  the  largest  city  in  the  World." 


76 


CHICAGO : 


.^^^^.o, 


GULF 


O    F 


^^  E  X  ^j:    c 


Tir^n  j  __ 


X 


CHICAGO 

&  EASTERN  ILLINOIS 

RAILROAD 

AND   CON  NECTl ON  S 


1-17-'12  POOLE/ BROACH jffA^O^^^^^^ 


ITS  INTRAMURAL  TRANSPORTATION.  77 

vm. 
Chicago— Its  Intramural  Transportation 

Rapid  transit  within  the  limits  of  a  city  is  as  important  as  within 
the  boundaries  of  a  state  or  a  nation.  In  fact  it  is  more  so  because 
it  is  more  frequently  used  and  by  a  larger  number  of  people  than  are 
such  lines  between  adjacent  cities  or  states.  The  cost  of  such  convey- 
ance also  enters  more  largely  into  the  daily  expenditures  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  thus  more  closely  touch  the  daily  expenditures  of  the  family. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  such  lines  of  conveyance  should  connect  the 
limits  with  the  business,  or  commercial,  center,  important  as  that  may 
be,  but  it  is  essential  that  they  should  connect  the  homes  of  the  laboring 
population  with  the  industrial  districts  where  they  are  employed. 
There  should  be  ample  facilities  for  what  may  be  called  "cross  town" 
conveyance,  which  connect  the  industrial  districts  with  the  homes  of 
the  working  classes  employed  therein.  This  not  only  enables  the 
manufacturers  to  secure  a  steady  supply  of  operatives,  but  makes  it 
possible  to  secure  temporary  additional  workmen  if  his  business 
requires  such  extra  help.  In  addition  to  this,  his  works,  be  they  large 
or  small,  should  also  be  in  close  touch  with  the  financial  and  commercial 
center  of  the  city.  In  either  case  the  means  of  transit  furnished  to  the 
people  by  the  various  lines  of  communication  between  different  sec- 
tions of  the  city  has  a  very  important  bearing  on  the  ease  and  dispatch 
with  which  business  can  be  transacted. 

There  is  no  section  of  the  city,  however  remote  from  the  loop  dis- 
trict, which  is  the  business  center  of  Chicago,  that  is  not  easily  and 
expeditiously  reached  by  some  one  of  the  surface  or  elevated  lines  of 
railway,  nearly  all  of  which  extend  to  the  suburbs  adjacent  to,  and 
beyond,  the  city  limits.  More  than  thirty  cities,  towns  and  villages, 
outside  of  the  city  limits,  can  be  reached  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night 
by  some  one  of  the  means  of  conveyance  that  are  in  operation,  at  very 
reasonable  rates  of  fare.  The  cost  of  such  conveyance  is  not  appre- 
ciated by  persons  not  familiar  with  the  conditions  in  Chicago.  Not 
long  ago  a  party  of  strangers  were  occupying  the  smoking  compartment 
of  a  west-bound  passenger  train.  One  of  the  party  was  a  New  Yorker 
and  he  was  astonishing  his  companions  by  telling  how  far  a  person 
could  ride  in  his  home  city  on  the  street  cars  for  a  nickel.  In  the  party 
was  a  Chicago  resident,  and  after  hearing  the  New  Yorker's  story, 
he  said:  "That  is  nothing.  In  Chicago  I  can  ride  more  than  twenty- 
five  miles  for  a  nickel."    The  New  Yorker  was  nonplused,  and  rising 


78  CHICAGO 


from  his  seat,  extended  his  hand  and  said:  "Shake;  I  am  glad  to  meet 
the  president  of  the  Ananias  Club,"  and  left  the  compartment.  The 
truth  is  that  the  Chicagoan  considerably  understated  the  actual  facts. 
By  the  system  of  transfers  in  vogue  in  Chicago,  it  is  easily  possible 
to  ride  more  than  twenty-five  miles  for  a  single  fare  of  five  cents. 
In  fact  a  person  can  journey  from  Howard  Avenue,  the  northern  limits 
of  Chicago,  to  Blue  Island,  a  distance  of  twenty-eight  miles,  for  a  single 
fare  of  five  cents. 

So  far  as  rapidity  of  transit  is  concerned  the  elevated  roads  are 
entitled  to  first  consideration.  There  are  four  of  these  systems  in 
operation  which  reach  the  remote  sections  of  each  division  of  the  city, 
all  passing  around  the  "loop"  in  the  center  of  the  wholesale,  retail  and 
financial  districts  of  the  city.  This  loop  is  double  tracked  and  is 
approximately  a  m.ile  in  length  and  half  a  mile  in  width.  Each  of  the 
elevated  roads  runs  its  trains  around  this  loop,  the  intervals  between 
them  from  two  minutes  apart  during  the  "rush  hours"  (from  4:30 
to  6 :30  in  the  evening  and  from  6 :30  to  8 :30  in  the  morning)  and  at 
longer  intervals  at  other  hours  of  the  day  and  night.  As  the  trains 
run  upon  an  elevated  structure  they  are  not  delayed  by  street  conges- 
tions. The  fare  is  five  cents  to  the  end  of  the  line,  except  on  one  of 
them,  reaching  Evanston  (a  distance  of  twelve  miles),  the  fare  is  ten 
cents.  During  the  rush  hours  express  trains  are  run,  which  stop  only 
at  principal  stations,  thus  reducing  the  time  between  the  loop  and 
extreme  points  on  the  lines. 

The  Northwestern  elevated  has  a  mileage  of  18.14  miles,  extend- 
ing from  Evanston,  on  the  lake  shore  north  of  the  city,  with  a  line  to 
Ravenswood.  During  the  "rush  hours"  trains  move  at  intervals  of 
two  and  four  minutes  and  after  midnight  once  in  thirty-five  minutes. 

The  South  Side  elevated,  with  its  branches,  has  a  mileage  of  16.24 
miles,  with  branches  to  Jackson  Park,  Kenwood,  Englewood  and  the 
Union  Stock  Yards.  Trains  move  at  intervals  of  three  to  twenty 
minutes,  according  to  the  hour  of  the  day. 

The  Metropolitan  elevated  has  a  mileage  of  22.39  miles  and  reaches 
each  of  the  great  west  side  parks — Garfield,  Douglas,  Humboldt  and 
Logan  Square — moving  its  trains  at  intervals  of  from  three  to  thirty 
minutes. 

The  Chicago  &  Oak  Park  elevated,  with  a  mileage  of  10.40  miles, 
reaching  Garfield  Park  and  Oak  Park,  with  trains  at  intervals  from 
two  to  forty  minutes,  according  to  the  demands  of  the  traffic. 

On  each  of  these  roads  the  trackage  is  approximately  double  the 
mileage. 


ITS  INTRAMURAL  TRANSPORTATION.  79 

These  four  roads,  with  the  Union  Loop,  have  a  mileage  of  69.19 
miles  and  are  capitalized  at  $95,000,000. 

The  service  to  the  public  is  singularly  good,  although  at  the  "rush 
hours"  the  cars  are  over-crowded,  but  they  are  large,  clean,  well 
ventilated  and  comfortably  warm  in  the  winter  months. 

The  surface,  or  trolley  lines  reach  each  section  of  the  south,  north 
and  west  divisions  of  the  city,  a  territory  twenty-six  miles  long  and 
nine  miles  in  width.  The  lines  are  controlled  by  two  companies,  the 
Chicago  Railways  Company  and  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company, 
having  an  aggregate  mileage  of  nearly  915  miles,  valued  at  $125,- 
000,000. 

From  the  "loop"  something  like  twenty  main  trunk  lines  of  these 
surface  roads  radiate,  most  of  them  taking  cars  of  one  or  more  con- 
necting sub-trunk  lines  which  are  dropped  off  at  junction  points  and 
proceed  to  their  destination.  The  interchange  of  transfers  between 
crossing  lines  is  very  general.  As  a  single  instance  of  the  value  of 
these  transfers  the  case  may  be  cited  where  a  person  can  ride  from 
Seventy-ninth  Street,  in  the  south  division  of  the  city,  to  the  extreme 
limits  of  the  north  division,  a  distance  of  19>^  miles,  for  a  single  fare 
of  five  cents,  and  on  some  lines  it  is  possible  to  ride  a  still  longer  dis- 
tance, as  from  the  north  limits  to  Maywood,  nearly  four  miles  west  of 
the  city  limits,  a  distance  of  over  twenty-three  miles. 

Besides  these  means  of  conveyance,  steam  railroads  operate  trains 
during  the  day  between  nearby  suburban  villages  and  their  passenger 
stations  in  the  business  center.  Four  of  these  roads  run  850  trains 
daily  in  this  service,  and,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  table,  carry 
a  very  large  number  of  passengers,  at  commutation  rates,  that  are  very 
near  those  of  the  elevated  and  surface  roads. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  passengers  carried  by 
these  various  lines  of  transportation  in  1911 : 

Chicago  City  Railway  Co 338,566,525 

Chicago  Railways  Co 488,490,104 

Calumet  &  South  Chicago   26,729,060 

Northwestern  "L"   44,471,566 

Metropolitan  "L"  56,125,075 

South  Side  "L"   40,751,028 

Chicago  &  Oak  Park  "L" 16,346,278 

Suburban  Steam  Roads 47,465,718 

Total  for  the  year 1,058,945,354 

or  an  average  of  2,901,220  each  day  of  the  year. 


80 


CHICAGO 


5      «^    1     ^J- 


ITS  INTRAMURAL  TRANSPORTATION.-  81 

In  addition  to  the  passenger  traffic  of  these  various  lines,  there  are 
five  electric  interurban  roads,  as  follows,  with  their  mileage;  The 
Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago,  67  miles;  the  Chicago  &  Joliet,  30  miles; 
the  Chicago  &  Southern,  72  miles;  the  Chicago,  Lake  Shore  &  South 
Bend,  90  miles;  and  the  Chicago  &  Milwaukee,  90  miles.  Only  one 
of  these,  the  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago,  runs  to  the  loop  district,  the 
others  connecting  with  elevated  or  surface  roads,  by  which  passengers 
are  conveyed  to  the  business  center.  These  important  lines  connect 
forty-five  cities,  besides  a  large  number  of  growing  towns  and  villages, 
with  Chicago.  The  number  of  passengers  carried  by  these  interurban 
lines  is  not  available  and  it  is  probable  that  a  large  fraction  of  them  is 
included  in  the  number  carried  by  the  surface  and  elevated  roads  with 
which  they  connect. 

Everyone  who  is  familiar  with  the  foreign  population  of  this 
country  understands  that  it  is  gregarious,  the  different  races,  very 
generally,  forming  communities  by  themselves,  and  Chicago  is  no 
exception  to  that  rule.  Every  manufacturer  has  learned  by  experience 
that  one  race  is  better  adapted  to  the  work  he  has  to  have  done  than 
any  other.  The  question  of  local  transportation  is  therefore  an  impor- 
tant one  for  him  because,  with  practically  unrestricted  facilities  for  the 
conveyance  for  his  employes,  he  is  always  within  easy  reach  of  the 
people  he  employs,  especially  at  such  times  as  the  exigencies  of  his 
business  require  additional  operatives  for  short  periods.  The  traction 
and  elevated  lines  leave  no  section  of  the  city  unsupplied  and  if  the 
employer  knows  where  the  kind  of  labor  he  seeks  is  concentrated,  he 
has  no  difficulty  in  reaching  and  securing  it.  The  English,  Scotch  and 
Irish  are  very  well  distributed  throughout  the  city,  but  the  Germans 
are  numerous  in  the  24th,  26th  and  27th  wards ;  the  Poles  in  the  16th 
and  29th,  the  Swedes  in  the  25th  and  26th,  the  Russians  in  the  9th, 
10th,  15th,  19th  and  20th,  the  Bohemians  in  the  10th,  12th,  29th  and 
34th  chiefly,  the  Italians  in  the  17th,  19th  and  22nd,  and  the  Nor- 
wegians in  the  15th,  28th  and  35th  wards. 

More  important  than  these  last  mentioned,  as  directly  affecting  the 
comforts  of  the  people,  are  the  numerous  steamers  on  the  lake  that 
give  daily  excursions  in  the  summer  months  reaching  to  ports  on  the 
west  shore  of  Michigan.  That  state  abounds  in  lakes  and  summer 
resorts  of  great  beauty,  at  which  thousands  of  Chicago  people  spend 
the  months  of  July  and  August.  As  a  rule,  the  exodus  to  Michigan 
and  Wisconsin  resorts  begins  with  the  close  of  the  public  schools. 
The  families  live  in  neat  cottages  on  the  shores  of  some  lake  and  the 
children  "run  wild"  through  the  summer.     The  head  of  the  family 


CHICAGO: 


ITS  INTRAMURAL  TRANSPORTATION.  83 

can  leave  the  city  on  some  Friday  evening  steamer  and  be  with  his 
family  Saturday  and  Sunday,  and  returning  Sunday  night,  can  be  in 
his  office  Monday  morning  at  his  usual  hour.  Twelve  lines  of  these 
lake  steamers  have  their  home  port  at  Chicago,  and  serve  to  make  this 
city  one  of  the  most  delightful  summer  cities  in  the  country.  The 
economy  with  which  homes  can  be  maintained  in  these  near-by  sum- 
mer resorts  is  due  to  the  low  rates  of  fare  on  the  lake  steamers,  the 
cheapness  of  family  supplies  in  both  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  and 
the  very  short  distance  one  has  to  travel  to  reach  them. 

Abundant  means  of  transportation,  at  reasonable  cost,  both  to  the 
city  limits  and  the  adjacent  country,  is  highly  prized  by  those  who 
reside  here  as  well  as  by  those  who  make  Chicago  their  headquarters 
while  visiting  the  resorts  with  which  it  is  in  close  touch. 

Convenient  and  necessary  as  are  the  public  utilities  for  the  convey- 
ance of  passengers  to  various  parts  of  the  city  they  cannot  take  the 
place  of  the  private  carriage  or  automobile  for  the  use  of  those  whose 
means  permit  them  to  employ  the  more  expensive  methods  of  transfer- 
ence. But  the  vehicle,  whatever  it  may  be,  has  its  use  limited  by 
street    conditions. 

The  problems  of  street  improvement  in  Chicago  have  been  many 
but  they  have  not  been  serious.  The  level  surface  of  the  territory  has 
made  thorough  drainage  imperative,  but  perfect  sewage  has  not  been 
difficult  in  any  way,  other  than  the  financing  of  the  work.  The  land 
area  within  the  city  limits  embraces  114,932  acres,  in  which  there  are 
4,303  miles  of  streets.  Of  this  aggregate,  1,628  miles  have  been 
paved  and  improved,  leaving  2,675  miles  of  what  may  be  called 
"country  roads." 

By  far  the  greater  portion  of  the  unimproved  streets  are  in  the 
extreme  southwestern  and  northwestern  sections  of  the  city,  where 
the  land,  if  used  for  any  purpose,  is  devoted  to  agriculture.  In  the 
populated  sections  of  the  city  the  streets  are,  almost  universally, 
improved  or  paved  with  asphaltum,  macadam,  or  brick,  while  splendid 
highways  lead  to  all  the  surrounding  cities,  like  Milwaukee,  Madison, 
Indianapolis,  Detroit,  Springfield,  Des  Moines,  St.  Paul  and  inter- 
mediate towns. 

To  show  how  well  Chicago  has  done  in  the  matter  of  providing 
excellent  highways  for  pleasure  riding  or  teaming  it  may  be  said 
that  we  have  more  than  300  more  miles  of  improved  and  paved  streets 
than  has  Philadelphia;  twice  as  many  as  St.  Louis;  more  than  three 
times  as  many  as  Boston  or  Baltimore;  nearly  four  times  as  many 


84  CHICAGO : 


as  Pittsburgh,  and  more  than  five  times  as  many  as  Washington  (this 
data  is  taken  from  Census  Bulletin  Number  105). 

The  use  that  pleasure  seekers  make  of  our  paved  streets  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  there  are  more  than  10,000  automobiles  owned  in 
Chicago  and  suburbs,  and  no  more  delightful  trip  can  be  anywhere 
taken  by  carriage  than  from  Jackson  Park,  through  Douglas,  Garfield 
and  Humboldt  parks,  to  Lincoln  Park,  a  distance  of  about  thirty  miles, 
every  foot  of  which  is  over  a  wide,  well-shaded  and  paved  boulevard. 

The  importance  of  improved  streets  in  the  transportation  of  goods 
and  merchandise,  as  well  as  for  pleasure,  cannot  be  exaggerated.  The 
cost  of  drayage  is  reduced  to  a  minimum  by  the  aid  of  level  and 
improved  streets.  We  have  no  hills  to  climb  and  there  is  no  freight 
terminal  station  located  on  any  railroad  that  is  not  accessible  at  all 
times  of  the  year  by  a  road  that  is  dry  and  smooth. 


ITS  BUSINESS  UTILITIES.  85 

IX, 

Chicago— Its  Business  Utilities 

Given  an  adequate  market,  the  chief  factor  in  the  successful  con- 
duct of  business  operations  is  the  economy  with  which  they  can  be 
carried  on.  The  expenses  of  conducting  commercial  and  industrial 
enterprises  may  be  classified  under  two  general  heads,  viz. :  first,  fixed 
charges,  like  overhead  expenses;  superintendence;  officers'  salaries; 
compensation  paid  clerks;  taxes;  insurance;  general  wear  and  tear; 
repairs;  and,  second,  such  general  manufacturing  expenses  as  labor 
and  materials.  The  former  go  into  the  account  for  general  expenses 
while  the  latter  are  figured  in  the  cost  of  the  product. 

But  there  are  other  conditions  beside  capital  and  ability  that  are 
essential  to  the  highest  success  of  industrial  and  commercial  enter- 
prises, important  as  those  may  be  to  business  prosperity.  As  a  rule 
these  utilities  are  a  public  asset  and  wholly  beyond  the  control  of  the 
individual  or  corporation.  They  may  be  either  natural  or  created  by 
the  insistent  demands  of  the  people  who  constitute  the  majority  of 
the  population  of  a  metropolis,  but  they  serve  as  an  important,  if  not 
as  a  dominating,  factor  in  the  commercial  advancement  of  a  city,  and 
also  have  a  weighty  influence  on  the  success  with  which  business 
enterprises  may  be  conducted.  These  are  banking  facilities;  good 
streets  and  roads;  fire  and  police  protection;  postal,  telegraph  and 
telephone  service;  educational  advantages;  library  conveniences;  the 
religious  and  moral  status  of  the  community ;  recreation  privileges  and 
many  other  factors  that  influence  commercial  life.  These  all  depend 
upon  the  general  character  and  intelligence  of  the  people,  but  they 
must  be  taken  into  account  in  seeking  a  location  for  home  or  business 
as  well  as  the  more  material  adjuncts  that  pertain  solely  to  trade  and 
commerce.  These  adjuncts  of  business  and  the  domestic  life  of  the 
citizens  are  discussed  in  other  sections  of  this  volume. 

In  the  fixed  charges,  one  important  item  that  materially  affects 
expenses  is  the  cost  of  living,  which  is  discussed  in  another  section  of 
this  volume  under  a  special  heading.  The  general  manufacturing 
expenses  are  influenced  by  a  very  large  number  of  conditions,  which 
are  beyond  the  control  of  the  manufacturer.  Upon  the  subject  of  raw 
material,  reference  is  made  to  a  preceding  section  of  this  volume,  in 
which  that  subject  is  elaborated  upon.  The  effect  of  abundant  raw 
material  is  shown  in  the  cost  of  erecting  building  plants,  which  is 
approximately  twenty  per  cent  less  in  Chicago  than  in  cities  where 
such  products  are  less  abundant. 


CHICAGO : 


ITS  BUSINESS  UTILITIES.  87 

For  the  creation  of  power,  heat  and  light,  coal  is  the  principal 
material  used  whether  the  plant  is  operated  by  steam  or  electric 
energy.  There  are  in  Illinois  102  counties  of  which  55,  or  more  than 
one-half,  are  within  the  bituminous  coal  area  of  the  state  and  produce 
that  commodity  for  commercial  purposes.  These  counties  have  933 
mines,  yielding  about  50,000,000  tons  annually.  They  ship  mine  run, 
lump,  egg,  nut,  pea  and  slack  product,  the  average  value  of  which,  at 
the  mine,  is  $1,037  per  ton,  varying  from  $1,296  to  $0,336  per  ton.  The 
best  qualities  of  this  coal  delivered  in  Chicago  varies  in  price  from 
$1.40  to  $2.00  a  ton;  coal  of  equal  value  selling,  in  Atlantic  seaboard 
cities,  at  from  $3.00  to  $3.50  a  ton.  This  advantage  possessed  by  Chi- 
cago is  of  vast  importance  in  manufacturing,  whether  the  plant  is 
operated  by  steam  or  electric  power.  Some  of  our  electric  power 
plants  use  thousands  of  tons  daily  of  coal  in  the  driving  of  dynamos, 
and  cheap  coal  results,  materially,  in  economical  electric  power  and 
light.  One  Chicago  electric  company  has  two  electric  power  plants 
which  have  a  combined  capacity  of  360,000  horse-power,  which  con- 
sume two  and  one-half  tons  of  coal  and  evaporate  seventeen  tons  of 
water  each  minute.  Another  has  four  generating  stations  which  cover 
145  acres  of  ground.  It  has  120,000  customers.  The  connected  load, 
as  expressed  in  the  equivalent  of  16-candle-power  incandescent  lamps, 
is  8,144,000. 

Electric  power  is  cheaper  in  Chicago  than  in  any  other  American 
city.  As  an  illustration  of  its  low  cost,  it  may  be  said  that  the  power 
for  the  Joliet  penitentiary  was  recently  contracted  for  at  one  cent  per 
kilowatt  hour.  The  power  is  sold  on  a  sliding  scale  and  any  consumer 
can  purchase  it  at  that  price,  or  even  less,  provided  the  consumption 
justifies  so  low  a  rate. 

The  subject  of  taxation  is  one  which  cannot  be  ignored  in  estimat- 
ing the  cost  of  doing  business.  It  is  a  little  difficult  to  give  the  amount 
of  taxes  levied  upon  a  given  quantity  of  property  because  all  cities  do 
not  use  the  same  basis  for  assessment.  Some  levy  taxes  upon  a  full 
cash  valuation ;  others  upon  one-third,  and  others  still,  upon  one-fifth. 
In  some  cities  street  improvements  are  paid  for  out  of  the  general 
fund  while  in  others  they  are  provided  for  by  the  levying  of  special 
assessments,  according  to  benefits  received,  upon  abutting  or  adjacent 
property.  This  last  condition  does  not  relieve  the  property  owner  for 
in  one  case  he  pays  the  expense  out  of  his  own  pocket  directly,  while  in 
the  other,  he  pays  it  into  the  city  treasury  as  a  portion  of  his  taxes. 

The  Census  Bureau,  in  September,  1908,  issued  a  bulletin  (the 
latest  official  report  upon  this  subject)   entitled  "Statistics  of  Cities 


CHICAGO : 


Having  a  Population  of  over  30,000  in  1906,"  on  page  281  of  which  is 
given  rates  of  taxes  per  $1,000.  The  following  table  shows  that  the 
rate  in  the  fifteen  cities  of  the  United  States  that  are  credited,  in  the 
bulletin,  with  a  population  of  300,000  or  over : 

Rate  of  tax 
City  Per  $1,000 

New  York  $13.59 

Chicago 8.06 

Philadelphia 14.55 

St.  Louis 8.70 

Boston 14.92 

Baltimore  18.78 

Cleveland   16.31 

Buffalo   14.64 

Pittsburgh    14.55 

San  Francisco 4.88 

Detroit 15.46 

Cincinnati    10.75 

Milwaukee   9.35 

New  Orleans 16.50 

Washington   10.26 

In  Chicago  the  cost  of  street  improvements  is  paid  by  special 
assessment  and  not  out  of  the  general  treasury.  This  is  the  case  of 
some  others  of  the  listed  cities.  At  the  time  these  statistics  were  com- 
piled, San  Francisco  had  not  reached  its  normal  condition  since  the 
disaster  of  that  year. 

The  following  table  shows  the  taxes  levied  during  1907,  1908,  1909, 
1910  and  1911,  in  the  different  towns  making  up  the  city  of  Chicago 
per  $1,000. 


West  Chicago . 
South  Chicago, 
North  Chicago 
Hyde  Park. . . . 

Lake 

Lake  View .  .  . . 
Jefferson 


1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

$7.70 

$7.98 

$4.91 

$4.95 

7.20 

7.52 

4.47 

4.64 

7.57 

7.84 

4.84 

4.88 

7.20 

7.52 

4.47 

4.64 

7.20 

7.52 

4.47 

4.64 

7.71 

8.00 

5.05 

5.01 

6.48 

6.74 

4.03 

4.13 

1911 


$5.39 
5.06 
5.21 
5.06 
5.06 
5.01 
4.13 


ITS  BUSINESS  UTILITIES. 


In  1907  and  1908  property  was  assessed  at  one-fifth  its  cash  value 
but  the  state  law  was  changed  that  year  requiring  the  levy  to  be  made 
in  future  on  one-third  of  the  cash  value.  The  reason  why  one  section 
of  the  city  has  a  higher  rate  than  another  is  due  to  the  different  sums 
expended  on  parks.  This  park  tax  varied  from  forty-four  cents  to 
$1.26  in  the  different  towns.  With  $500,000  or  $1,000  (more  or  less) 
invested  in  a  manufacturing  plant  any  one  can  estimate  the  amount 
he  would  save  in  taxes  alone  if  his  establishment  was  located  in  Chi- 
cago rather  than  in  any  of  the  cities  included  in  the  foregoing  list. 

One  reason  for  the  comparatively  low  rate  of  taxation  in  Chicago 
is  the  small  gross  debt  of  the  city,  the  small  debt  per  capita  and  the 
very  light  interest  tax  per  capita.  The  following  table  gives  the  sta- 
tistics issued  by  the  Census  Bureau: 


City 


Gross  Debt 


Debt 
Per  Capita 


Interest 
Per  Capita 


New  York .  .  . 

Chicago 

Philadelphia. . 
St.  Louis.  .  .  . 

Boston 

Baltimore. . . . 
Pittsburgh .  . . 
Cleveland.  .  .  . 

Buffalo 

San  Francisco 

Detroit 

Cincinnati.  .  . 
Milwaukee.  . . 
New  Orleans. 
Washington .  . 


$798,679,054 
84,449,874 
74,387,488 
18,640,951 
105,092,706 
48,070,933 
42,813,778 
32,844,514 
22,464,303 
4,922,983 
12,250,942 
50,516,043 
10,656,231 
28,188,326 
14,296,893 


$189 
40 
50 
28 

172 
85 
80 
69 
58 

Not 
33 

145 
33 
88 
45 


01 

07 

73 

17 

52 

67 

55 

02 

09 

comp 

34 

53 

04 

46 

74 


$4.58 
1.28 
1.33 
1.20 
6.68 
2.15 
2.39 
2.39 
1.83 
uted 
0.86 
3 
1 
2 
1 


96 
08 
63 
54 


The  indebtedness  of  the  city  of  Chicago  was,  on  the  2nd  day  of 
January,  1912,  as  follows,  officially  reported. 

Bonds  (general)   $24,941,000.00 

Bonds  (Water) 3,273,000.00 

Judgments    1,395.87 

Accrued  interest  (corporate)   140,833.10 

Water  fund  debt   1,214,153.73 


$29,570,382.70 
Less  sinking  funds 2,740,734.98 


Total  debt,  January  2nd,  1912 $26,829,647.72 


90 


CHICAGO 


^  EASTERN  ^ 


jiijBlllli^ 


ITS  BUSINESS  UTILITIES.  91 

This  does  not  include  $3,155,000  bonds,  for  building  bridges  to 
replace  old  ones,  voted  by  the  people  in  1911,  but  not  yet  issued.  In 
1911  the  city  paid  for  interest  on  its  bonded  debt  $1,285,741.  The 
unexercised  borrowing  power  of  the  city  under  state  law,  is  $19,- 
619,062.48. 

The  expenses  incident  to  drayage  make  a  heavy  demand  upon  both 
manufacturer  and  merchant.  There  is  more  freight  transported  upon 
drays  in  Chicago  than  in  any  other  American  city,  a  recent  magazine 
writer  putting  the  tonnage  so  carried  in  Philadelphia  and  Boston  at 
65,000  tons  each  daily;  in  New  York  about  75,000  tons,  and  in  Chi- 
cago about  100,000  tons.  The  writer  says  ''figure  the  millions  upon  mil- 
lions that  are  spent  each  year  by  the  merchants  and  manufacturers 
for  this  service,  the  thousands  of  men  to  whom  they  give  employ- 
ment and  the  millions  of  dollars  that  are  tied  up  in  horses,  trucks, 
harnesses  and  stables,  and  the  total  is  almost  inconceivable."  Not  long 
ago  an  investigator  in  this  city  made  a  careful  estimate  of  the  amount 
expended  annually  by  the  business  men  of  this  city  for  the  transfer 
of  their  goods  through  the  streets  of  Chicago  and  found  that  it  aggre- 
gated a  sum  larger  than  that  received  annually  by  one  of  our  largest 
trunk  lines  of  railway  for  the  transportation  of  freight  over  its  entire 
system. 

But  so  far  as  Chicago  is  concerned,  this  heavy  drain  upon  business 
is  being  rapidly  eliminated.  There  has  been  constructed  in  the  city 
more  than  60  miles  of  tunnels,  underlying  the  entire  down-town  dis- 
trict, and  connecting  the  wholesale  business  houses  and  manufactories 
within  that  area  with  every  railway  freight  station  in  the  business 
center.  In  other  cities  the  subways  are  for  the  transportation  of 
passengers,  leaving  the  streets  to  the  drays,  but  in  Chicago  the  tunnel 
is  for  the  conveyance  of  freight,  ashes,  coal,  etc.,  reserving  the  surface 
for  the  people.  Most  of  the  60  miles  of  these  tunnels  are  six  feet 
wide  and  seven  and  a  half  feet  high,  the  roof  forming  an  arch.  There 
are  however,  what  are  known  as  trunk  tunnels,  which  are  about  twelve 
feet  high  and  from  ten  to  fourteen  feet  wide.  In  fixing  the  size  of  the 
tunnels  the  city  council  took  into  consideration  that  they  must  be  made 
high  and  wide  enough  for  a  man  to  work  in  comfortably,  and  with 
not  only  ample  space  for  the  suspension  of  the  telephone  wires  from 
the  roof  and  side  walls,  but  also  space  for  the  future  growth  of  the 
system.  It  was  stipulated  that  the  tunnels  were  to  be  about  forty  feat 
under  ground,  and  this  plan  has  been  followed,  thus  bringing  the  tops- 
of  the  tunnels  about  thirty-three  feet  below  the  street  level.  The 
tunnels  go  under  the  Chicago  River  in  twelve  places  and  at  such 


CHICAGO 


ITS  BUSINESS  UTILITIES.  93 

crossings  they  are  about  60  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  stream.  By 
placing  the  tunnels  at  this  depth  below  the  street  level,  the  sewers, 
water  and  other  pipes,  which  fill  up  a  city's  streets,  were  all  avoided, 
and  there  was  also  left  ample  room  above  the  tops  of  the  tunnels  for 
the  construction  of  a  subway  system  for  the  street  car  traffic  of  the 
city  in  case  it  was  ever  determined  to  build  one.  The  Tunnel  Com- 
pany cannot  carry  passengers  through  its  bores,  under  its  franchise, 
but  transports  freight,  inbound  and  outbound,  delivers  coal  and  removes 
ashes  and  other  debris  and  rubbish.  The  cars,  operated  by  electricity 
entirely,  have  a  capacity  of  three  tons  each  and  are  drawn  to  the 
elevators  directly  underneath  the  establishment  to  be  served,  where 
they  are  loaded  or  unloaded  as  may  be  desired. 

This  tunnel  system  is  of  benefit  to  business  in  two  principal  ways : 
first,  it  relieves  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of  all  cost  of  dray- 
age,  the  railroads,  to  which  the  goods  are  delivered  or  from  which 
they  are  received,  paying  the  company  such  charge,  which  is  small  in 
comparison  with  the  expense  of  drayage  with  horses,  and  the  con- 
venience and  economy  to  the  railroads  themselves;  second,  it  enables 
jobbers  and  producers  to  carry  on  their  business  for  the  entire  twenty- 
four  hours  of  the  day,  instead  of  eight  or  ten  hours,  as  formerly.  The 
old  system  was  to  pack  goods  in  the  afternoon  and  leave  them  for 
delivery  at  the  freight  stations  the  day  following.  Under  the  tunnel 
system,  a  car  is,  late  in  the  afternoon,  placed  in  the  basement;  the 
boxes  or  bales  are  lowered  to  the  tracks,  forty  feet  beneath  the  side- 
walk; transferred  to  the  railway  car  at  the  freight  station  and,  before 
nightfall,  the  goods  are  on  their  way  to  their  destination. 

Another  means  for  the  economical  handling  and  exchange  of 
freight,  both  from  shippers  and  from  one  railroad  or  station  to  another, 
is  the  various  belt  lines  of  railroads  which  intersect  the  tracks  of  the 
roads  centering  at  Chicago  and  collect  and  distribute  in-coming  freight 
among  the  various  terminals  at  which  it  is  to  be  delivered  to  the  con- 
signee, or  out-going  freight  to  the  terminal  of  the  road  over  which  it 
is  to  be  conveyed  to  its  destination.  This  arrangement  saves  not  only 
a  vast  amount  of  drayage  expense,  but  time  in  the  expeditious  handling 
of  freight  of  all  kinds,  especially  that  class  known  as  L.  C.  L.  (less 
than  carload  lots). 

In  the  chapter  on  transportation  facilities  in  this  volume  will  be 
found  a  list  of  these  belt  lines,  or  switching  roads,  while  interspersed 
in  the  pages  of  the  book  are  maps  of  these  roads,  or  tracks,  showing 
with  which  railroad  lines,  and  at  what  points,  they  connect. 


94 


CHICAGO 


«  ,  K        J        •        "        <        K        ,        i        ,        J         «  t 

i  !     I        1  i  i        1  I  i  ;  ;  ;  i 


fflrnflfflfflffl 


ITS  BUSINESS  UTILITIES. 


No  city  or  market  in  the  world  has  the  facilities  for  handling  the 
out-of-town  business  as  expeditiously  and  economically  as  it  is  done  in 
Chicago.  / 

Banking  facilities  are  one  of  the  prime  essentials  to  a  great  mar- 
ket and  industrial  center.  There  is  no  pretense  that,  in  this  particular, 
Chicago  has  advantages  over  every  other  American  city  of  equal  size, 
but  it  is  confidently  asserted  that  no  city  has  better  or  stronger  bank- 
ing conveniences  to  meet  successfully  all  demands  of  honest  and 
legitimate  business  that  may  be  made,  than  are  possessed  by  Chicago. 
There  are  in  this  city,  besides  private  bankers'  institutions,  sixty-three 
banks  of  which  thirteen  are  national  and  fifty  are  state  corporations. 
The  standing  of  these  banks  December  5,  1911,  was  as  follows: 


Deposits 

Loans 

Resources 

National 

$443,102,882 
491,126,347 

$303,017,688 
313,237,418 

$    534,399,132 
567,653,465 

State 

Total 

$934,229,229 

$616,255,106 

$1,102,052,597 

For  protection  against  fire,  no  city  in  the  country  has  more  ample 
provision.  No  leading  fire,  or  life,  insurance  company,  that  does  an 
agency  business,  is  without  a  Chicago  office,  and  rates  do  not  differ 
materially  from  those  required  in  many  other  sections  of  the  United 
States.  The  city  fire  department  is  one  of  the  strongest  in  the  country. 
It  has  a  force  of  1,879  men,  117  engine  companies,  34  hook  and  ladder 
companies,  733  horses,  4  fire  boats,  1  water  tower,  126  fire  engines, 
151  hose  wagons  and  carriages,  43  hook  and  ladder  trucks,  43  chemical 
extinguishers,  189  portable  pumps,  with  various  other  appliances  for 
for  the  protection  of  property  against  loss  or  damage  by  fire. 

In  all  the  essentials  required  for  the  safe  and  successful  manage- 
ment of  industrial  or  commercial  operations,  there  is  no  city  on  this 
continent  that  can  claim  precedence  over  Chicago.  It  it  is  not  the 
intention,  in  dealing  with  this  subject,  to  enumerate  inconsequental 
details  in  the  matter  of  advantages,  but  to  show  natural  conditions 
and  supplemented  instrumentalities  that  are  most  important  in  success- 
fully conducting  business  operations.  Possessing  these,  minor  advan- 
tages take  care  of  themselves. 


96  CHICAGO 


The  volume  of  business  and  its  conditions  are  indicated  more 
clearly  by  the  bank  clearings  than  in  any  other  manner  and  the  follow- 
ing table  shows  the  growth  of  such  transactions. 

1883    $2,517,371,581      1898    $5,517,335,476 

1884    2,259,680,391      1899    6,612,313,611 

1885    2,318,579,003     1900    6,799,535,589 

1886    2,604,762,912     1901    7,756,372,455 

1887    2,969,216,210     1902    8,394,872,135 

1888    3,163,774,462     1903    8,755,553,649 

1889    3,379,925,188     1904    8,989,983,764 

1890    4,093,145,904     1905    10,191,765,732 

1891    4,456,885,203     1906    11,047,311,894 

1892    5,135,771,187     1907    12,087,647,870 

1893    4,676,196,969     1908    11,853,814,943 

1894    4,315,440,476     1909    13,781,843,612 

1895    4,614,979,203     1910    13,939,689,984 

1896    4,413,054,108     1911    13,925,709,802 

1897 4,575,693,340 


THE    ASSOCIATION    OF    COMMERCE.  97 


Chicago — The  Association  of  Commerce 

The  growth  of  commercial,  mdustrial  or  improvement  organiza- 
tions in  this  country  is  one  of  the  curiosities  of  urban  development. 
There  are,  indeed,  few  cities,  however  small,  which  do  not  have  local 
organizations  that  are  devoted  to  the  encouragement  of  the  business 
of  the  community  and  the  increase  of  its  population.  These  associa- 
tions have  been  instrumental  not  only  in  the  stimulation  of  business 
of  all  kinds,  but  in  the  fostering  of  civic  pride,  the  promotion  of  educa- 
tional facilities,  but  also  the  promotion  of  every  agency  that  had  for 
its  purpose  the  betterment  of  the  moral,  social  and  intellectual  con- 
ditions of  the  community  as  a  whole. 

One  of  the  very  earliest  of  these  organizations  had  its  inception 
in  this  city  and  from  this  germ  has  grown  the  Chicago  Association 
of  Commerce,  which  has  become  one  of  the  largest  and  most  ener- 
getic guilds  in  the  United  States,  if  not  in  the  world.  Some  decade 
and  a  half  ago,  The  National  Association  of  Merchants  and  Travelers, 
which  was  the  initial  society  of  a  like  character,  was  formed  in  Chi- 
cago, its  purpose  being  the  encouragement  of  trade  excursions  of 
business  men  in  the  territory  adjacent  to  the  city  to  come  to  Chicago 
to  make  their  purchases  of  goods  and  merchandise.  The  idea  was 
seized  upon  by  various  cities,  both  east  and  west,  similar  associations 
were  multiplied,  and,  while  the  trade  of  Chicago  was,  to  some  extent, 
increased,  it  did  not  keep  pace  with  the  growing  importance  of  the 
city  as  a  commercial  and  financial  center.  The  means  employed  were 
too  spasmodic  and  ephemeral  to  produce  any  lasting,  or  even  growing, 
commercial  pre-eminence  of  the  city  which  was  at  all  commensurate 
with  its  natural  advantages,  its  transportation  facilities,  and  its  grow- 
ing industrial  enterprises. 

Efficient  as  the  National  Association  of  Merchants  and  Travelers 
had  originally  been,  it  soon  outlived  its  usefulness,  and  there  remained 
no  unity  of  business  interests  that  could  act  authoritatively  on  behalf 
not  only  of  Chicago's  commercial,  but  also  its  civic,  sanitary  and  social 
interests  as  well. 

Near  the  close  of  1904  the  name  of  the  National  Association  of 
Merchants  and  Travelers  was  changed  to  the  Chicago  Commercial 
Association,  which  was  later  altered  to  the  present  appellation.  A 
thorough  reorganization  was  effected,  an  efficient  and  resourceful 
corps  of  officers  was  chosen,  with  the  usual  board  of  vice-presidents, 


CHICAGO 


THE    ASSOCIATION    OF    COMMERCE.  99 

directors,  executive  and  twenty  other  committees.  Under  the  new 
management  the  Association  rapidly  increased  in  numbers,  starting 
with  93.  The  following  table  shows  the  growth  in  membership  since 
December,  1904 : 

December,  1904 93  December,  1908 2,700 

December,  1905 1,002  December,  1909 3,000 

December,  1906 1,283  December,  1910 3,850 

December,  1907 1,376  December,  1911 4,118 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  membership  is  given  by  firms 
and  not  by  individuals,  and  as  the  individuals  composing  a  firm  average 
four  persons  to  each,  it  makes  the  individual  membership  of  the  Asso- 
ciation approximately  16,000.  The  system  employed  by  the  Associa- 
tion in  carrying  on  its  work  embraces  a  comprehensive  grouping  of  all 
its  forces  into  four  grand  divisions,  viz.:  the  Interstate,  the  Civic 
Industrial,  the  Foreign  Trade  and  the  Local  Divisions.  These  are 
co-ordinately  arranged  into  seventy-eight  trade  subdivisions,  each  of 
which  is  under  the  direction  of  a  chairman  and  four  committeemen, 
appointed  by  each  subdivision,  approved  by  the  Executive  Committee, 
and  which  constitute  the  members  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Com- 
mittee, which  is  the  active  working  force  of  the  Association,  composed 
of  390  members,  representing  every  branch  of  trade,  commerce  and 
industry  in  the  city.  This  committee  has  a  session  on  each  Wednes- 
day at  a  luncheon,  to  which  all  members  of  the  Association  are 
admitted,  and  at  which  is  discussed  various  questions  relating  to  the 
active  work  of  the  Association  in  all  its  departments.  This  is  the 
Association's  forum,  at  which  the  attendance  varies  from  200  to  300 
members,  addressed  by  speakers  of  recognized  ability  from  various 
sections  of  the  country  and  occasionally  by  invited  guests  from  abroad. 

To  the  interstate  division  is  committed  all  subjects  relating  to,  or 
involving,  the  commercial  interests  of  the  city  and  its  importance  as 
the  great  central  market  of  the  country.  The  civic  industrial  division 
has  for  its  definite  purpose  the  maintenance  and  development  of  indus- 
trial enterprises  within  the  city's  manufacturing  zone,  as  well  as  the 
improvement  of  civic  conditions  within  the  municipality.  The  for- 
eign trade  division  seeks  the  fullest  possible  advancement  of  Chicago's 
trade  through  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  reciprocal  com- 
mercial relations  with  foreign  countries  and  by  the  establishment  in 
foreign  marts  of  agencies  for  the  introduction  of  Chicago-made  prod- 
ucts.    The  local  division   is  engaged   in  the  organization  of  public 


100  CHICAGO 


sentiment  for  the  promotion  of  the  municipal  welfare,  the  enforce- 
ment of  constitutional  guarantees  of  property  rights  and  individual 
liberty,  based  upon  the  idea  that  citizenship  is  both  a  personal  liability 
and  a  public  responsibility.  One  feature  of  the  local  division  is  its 
convention  bureau,  which  brings  to  Chicago  annually  conventions  of 
deliberating  bodies  to  the  number  of  over  300,  represented  by  an 
aggregate  of  approximately  400,000  delegates. 

The  creed  of  the  organization  is  tersely  expressed  in  a  few  words, 
as  follows:  "The  Chicago  Association  of  Commerce  aims  to  promote 
the  greater  development  of  Chicago's  commerce  at  home — abroad;  a 
supreme  respect  for  law  and  order  leading  to  a  higher  standard  of 
municipal  character  through  the  organization  of  all  concerned  into  an 
aggressive  force." 

The  division  whose  business  brings  it  most  closely  in  touch  with 
the  widespread  industries  of  the  United  States  and  with  those  manu- 
facturers who  are  seeking  sites  either  for  branch  or  main  plants,  is 
the  civic  industrial,  between  whom  the  correspondence  is  carried  on. 
The  information  given  such  parties  is  voluminous  and  varied,  reach- 
ing every  section  of  the  country.  Its  printed  matter  goes  to  every 
large  commercial  body  in  the  country,  into  public,  college  and  uni- 
versity libraries  and  to  American  consuls  in  Europe.  How  far  reach- 
ing and  influential  this  work  may  be  cannot  be  accurately  estimated, 
because  the  division  closes  no  deals,  for  when  it  has  carried  negotia- 
tions to  the  point  of  giving  whatever  information  is  required  by 
prospective  seekers  for  locations,  the  cases  are  turned  over  to  the 
members  of  the  division  dealing  in  industrial  sites  and  property  and 
negotiations  are  continued  direct  between  them. 


ITS  LABOR  SUPPLY.  101 

XI. 

Chicago— Its  Labor  Supply 

It  is  no  more  disastrous  to  the  success  of  a  manufacturing  enter- 
prise for  the  proprietor  to  locate  his  estabHshment  in  a  place  where 
the  supply  of  the  chief  raw  material  he  uses  is  limited  to  his  bare 
necessities,  than  it  is  to  select  a  situation  where  there  is  such  an  insuf- 
ficiency of  labor  as  to  enable  him  to  meet  no  more  than  his  ordinary 
requirements.  In  either  case  a  temporary  or  permanent  increase  in 
the  demand  for  his  product  so  cripples  him  that  he  is  unable  to  take 
advantage  of  the  enlargement  of  his  business  or  to  compete  with  a 
manufacturer  who,  under  more  favorable  conditions,  is  placing  on  the 
active  market  an  article  which  may  be  inferior  to  his  own. 

There  is  no  principle  better  settled  in  the  distribution  of  population 
than  that  labor  of  all  kinds,  skilled  as  well  as  common,  will  gravitate 
to  industrial  centers,  and  this  is  more  pronounced  when  the  laborers 
are  of  foreign  birth  than  with  those  who  are  native  born  citizens  of 
the  country.  The  foreigner  comes  here  for  no  other  purpose  than  to 
seek  permanent  employment  at  living  wages,  while,  as  a  very  general 
rule,  the  native,  after  a  few  years,  becomes  an  employer  of  labor  him- 
self, wins  his  way  to  a  salaried  position  or  is  a  skilled  operative  in 
his  chosen  occupation.  The  majority  of  foreign  born  working  men 
are  unskilled  laborers,  and  it  is  this  class  that  fills  the  greater  number 
of  industrial  plants  in  this  country. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  basis  of  industrial  progress  is  the  cheap  laborer 
who  performs  the  patient,  tireless  and  low-paid  toil  which  is  in  great- 
est demand,  even  in  this  era  when  complicated  and  automatic  machin- 
ery is  so  largely  depended  upon  in  every  department  of  industrial 
enterprise.  In  fact,  it  is  this  very  kind  of  machinery  that  creates  the 
large  demand  for  unskilled  labor  and  attracts  such  to  manufacturing 
centers. 

Antedating  the  industrial  activity  which  is  now  characteristic  of 
this  city,  Chicago  was  the  great  center  to  and  from  which  agricultural 
products  tended  for  distribution.  Land  was  both  cheap  and  enor- 
mously productive,  and  the  products  of  the  soil  met  with  a  constant 
demand  at  remunerative  prices.  To  this  condition  northern  Illinois, 
Wisconsin,  Iowa  and  Minnesota  are  indebted  for  the  Swedish  and 
Norwegian  farmers,  who  now  form  a  very  large  proportion  of  their 
agricultural  population.    They  were  thrifty,  intelligent  and  inured  to  a 


102 


CHICAGO 


Map  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Showing  Proposed  "Chicago  Beautiful"  Plan 


ITS  LABOR  SUPPLY. 103 

life  of  exacting  labor.  They  had  large  families  and  were  not  com- 
pelled to  depend  upon  hired  labor  in  their  vocation.  Their  prosperity 
became  known  in  their  former  homes  and  they  were  followed  by  kins- 
men and  acquaintances,  each  new  arrival  adding  to  the  necessity  for, 
and  growth  of  manufacturing  centers  and  these,  in  turn,  emphasized 
the  requirement  for  skilled  and  common  labor  in  the  shops  and  mills. 
This  vast  population,  remaining  unassimilated,  and  serving  always  as 
a  magnet  to  draw  still  others  of  their  race  from  their  mother  country, 
and  who  retained  the  manners,  customs  and  habits  of  their  native 
lands,  has  given  the  West,  and  especially  its  cities,  the  most  cosmo- 
politan population  to  be  found  anywhere  on  the  globe.  There  are  in 
these  states  townships  today  in  which  the  English  language  is  spoken 
neither  in  the  home,  stores,  schools  or  churches,  and  yet  those  necessi- 
ties of  modern  civilization  are  of  the  very  best. 

Immigration  from  Sweden,  Norway  and  Germany  has  declined 
somewhat  in  late  years,  as  has  also  that  from  the  United  Kingdom  and 
France,  but  the  influx  has  been  largely  increased  from  Italy,  Russia 
and  Hungary.  There  has,  however,  been  a  decline  in  the  total  of 
immigration  since  1907,  when  it  reached  the  highest  point,  1,285,349, 
to  1911,  when  it  had  fallen  to  878,587.  The  tendency  of  foreign 
immigration  is  now  to  the  cities,  and  it  is  generally  of  persons  not 
skilled  in  any  of  the  useful  arts  or  domestic  agriculture,  and  of  such 
labor  Chicago  has  an  inexhaustible  supply.  At  the  school  census  in 
1908  Chicago  had  a  foreign  born  population  of  728,257,  and  the 
nationalities  which  are  most  commonly  associated  with  the  severe  toil 
of  unskilled  daily  labor  are  the  Italians,  Bohemians,  Poles  and 
Russians. 

These  are  the  foreigners  who  are  practically  never  assimilated  with 
other  populations,  native  or  alien  born.  They  have  no  knowledge  of 
our  language,  laws,  customs  or  modes  of  life.  They  live  in  communi- 
ties each  by  themselves,  and  probably  75  per  cent  of  the  adult  males 
are  laborers  with  pick  and  shovel,  in  lumber  yards  or  doing  the  heavy 
labor  about  mills  and  manufactories.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are 
the  best  unskilled  laborers  to  be  found  anywhere.  They  are  robust, 
live  frugally,  dress  economically,  occupy  small  cottages  or  apartments 
in  localities  where  rent  is  low,  and  they  toil  willingly  for  a  wage  that 
no  American  would  consider  and  which  most  foreigners  would  refuse. 
With  this  great  laboring  population,  numbering  approximately  800,000 
people,  which  thoroughly  understands  every  class  of  employment  for 
which  they  offer  themselves,  the  manufacturer  has  an  army  of  common 
laborers  from  which  to  draw  for  all  the  unskilled  labor  he  may  require. 


104  CHICAGO : 


But  hard  as  the  life  of  these  toilers  may  seem  to  an  American, 
from  his  point  of  view,  they  are  vastly  better  off,  and  have  more  of 
the  comforts  of  life  here  than  they  ever  had  or  could  have  at  home. 
As  compared  with  other  cities,  Chicago  has  few  crowded  tenement 
quarters,  and  the  laboring  man  here  has,  as  a  rule,  more  of  home  life 
and  its  comforts  than  can  be  found  in  other  large  cities.  While  we 
have  our  crowded  spots,  the  laborer  has  more  room,  more  light  and 
better  air  than  is  usually  possessed  by  people  of  his  class  elsewhere. 

The  cottages  occupied  by  these  laborers  are  small,  but  the  lots  upon 
which  they  stand  are  large  enough  to  give  the  tenant,  or  owner,  space 
for  a  good  sized  garden  in  the  rear,  as  well  as  a  bit  of  lawn  in  front, 
and  it  is  not  at  all  uncommon  to  see  a  very  productive  kitchen  garden 
connected  with  these 'homes  which  produces  a  very  considerable  quan- 
tity of  food  for  the  family.  Rents  vary  from  $4.00  to  $8.00  a  month 
for  apartments,  in  the  sections  of  the  city  occupied  by  these  working 
men,  and  few  pay  either  more  or  less.  From  a  report  made  by  the 
City  Homes  Association  "of  a  canvass  of  420  apartments  in  a  West 
Side  district  of  the  city,  it  appears  only  one  Italian  family  was  found 
paying  more  than  $10.00  a  month  rent,  and  only  26  families  paying 
less  than  $4.00.  The  average  rent  paid  by  the  Italians  was  a  little 
under  $5.00  a  month  for  three-room  apartments.  The  Jewish  laborers 
paid  a  little  more  than  $8.00  a  month  rent,  the  Poles  $5.66  and  the 
Bohemians  $5.93  a  month  for  four  rooms." 

Next  to  rental,  the  great  necessity  is  for  water.  Meter  rates  for 
city  water,  which  for  purity  is  without  an  equal,  is  62y2  cents  per 
1,000  cubic  feet.  An  ordinary  family,  in  a  seven-room  house,  with 
bath,  closet  and  laundry,  will  consume  about  22  cents'  worth  of  water 
per  month.  With  these  laboring  people  the  rent  and  the  water  absorb 
not  to  exceed  one-sixth  the  income  of  the  head  of  the  family. 

The  educational  department  of  the  city  government  makes  a  per- 
sistent and  very  successful  effort  to  keep  the  children  of  these  foreign 
laborers  constantly  in  school.  The  compulsory  education  law  is  rig- 
idly enforced  by  truant  officers,  and  the  number  of  children  who 
escape  school  up  to  and  including  the  eighth  grade  are  very  few,  as 
compared  with  the  total.  There  is  no  section  of  the  city  that  is  not 
provided  with  school  facilities  of  all  kinds  which  are  tuition  free  for 
all  pupils.  While  all  foreigners  of  the  laboring  classes  are  not  alike, 
the  large  majority  of  those  in  this  city  do  not  fail  to  appreciate  the 
advantages  the  public  provides  that  the  children  may  attain  a  higher 
position  in  life  than  the  parents  themselves  have  reached,  or  than  the 
children  could  ever  hope  to  attain  in  their  fatherland. 


ITS  LABOR  SUPPLY.  105 

All  these  benefits  make  the  common  laborer  contented  with  his  con- 
dition, satisfied  with  his  wage,  and  industrious  in  his  lowly  calling. 

With  skilled  labor  the  conditions  are  much  the  same.  The  growth 
of  industrial  enterprises,  as  shown  in  preceding  pages,  gives  him  con- 
stant employment  at  remunerative  wages.  It  is  rare  that  a  satisfied 
artisan  is  a  discontented  one.  The  skilled  laborers  in  Chicago,  besides 
the  Americans,  the  English,  Scotch,  Irish,  Swedes,  Norwegians,  Cana- 
dians, and  Swiss,  who  speak  our  language,  are  interested  in  public 
affairs  and  among  them  are  many  of  the  very  best  of  our  citizens. 
They  live  well,  have  comfortable  homes,  and  are  staunch  supporters 
of  our  schools,  churches  and  public  societies.  This  class  forms  the 
"governor"  on  the  machinery  that  holds  in  check  the  efforts  of  the 
more  radical  in  the  advocacy  of  labor  disturbances.  A  very  large  pro- 
portion of  this  class  own  their  own  homes.  With  its  190  square 
miles  of  city  territory,  suitable  locations  for  homes  are  not  beyond 
the  means  of  the  average  industrious  mechanic,  while  building  mate- 
rials are  comparatively  cheap.  A  well-housed,  well-paid  and  well- 
clad  skilled  workman  is  not  one  who  "quarrels  with  his  job."  The 
wages  of  this  class  are,  on  the  average,  lower  than  are  paid  them  in 
some  American  cities,  and  this  is  caused  by  the  lower  cost  of  necessa- 
ries of  life,  especially  food.  Chicago  is  the  center  of  the  food  pro- 
ducing area  of  the  country,  and  it  is  apparent  that  food  products 
received  here  are  not  compelled  to  bear  the  burdens  of  long  trans- 
portation, as  is  the  case  in  markets  more  remote  from  the  points  of 
production. 

The  working  man  in  Chicago  can  have  more  luxuries  on  his  table 
than  anywhere  outside  of  the  agricultural  and  productive  center  of  the 
country.  The  choice  cuts  of  beef  and  other  meats  are  high  here,  as 
they  are  at  the  East  or  South,  but  good,  wholesome  meat,  that  is  not 
demanded  in  other  great  markets,  is  abundant  and  at  reasonable  prices. 
Butter,  milk,  poultry  and  eggs  are  produced  in  abundance  within  fifty 
miles  of  the  city  limits  and  the  cost  of  delivery  is  far  from  excessive. 

As  affecting  the  food  supply  of  Chicago,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  County  of  Cook,  in  which  the  city  is  located,  is  one  of  the 
most  important  agricultural  counties  in  the  state.  A  "farm"  is  any 
tract  of  land  of  three  or  more  acres  used  for  agricultural  purposes. 
The  number  of  farms  in  the  county  in  1910  was  3,100,  comprising 
20,679  acres,  which  produced  in  that  year  2,137,823  bushels  of  corn, 
2,210,823  bushels  of  oats,  and  contained,  among  other  stock,  31,955 
cows  and  331,658  poultry*.  This  enumeration  does  not  include  the 
immense  number  of  gardens  which  supply  the  people  of  the  city  with 


106 


CHICAGO : 


T^ 


DDDDnfflD 
mDDDDDD 


{Illinois  Centrol  RR. 
MStRkS.St«M.Ry. 
C.CCeiStL.R)t 
Chicago  ft  Illinoi*  Weftttrft  Ry 

AT»srR> 
CNC090  k  AHon  R.R. 
[^Grond  TrvnK  System. 

CNcogo  Union  Transfer  fty. 
Indiana  Horbor  Belt  R.R. 


HANDLES  INTCRCHANCE  CARLOAD  TRAFnC 
BETWEEN 


ATcNson.TopehakSonto  Fe  Ry 
Chicago,  Burlmgton.iQuincy  Rfl. 
Oicogo.MiiwouKee.fcStPouJ  Rji 
.CNcogo  Union  Transfer  R/ 
Chicogo  ft  Alton  RR 


Grond  TcunK  System. 
Indiono  HQTbOP  Belt  RR. 
Pittsburgh.  Cineinno  ti  .CMcooo.k 

SttOk-isR/i 
Soo  Line. 


TEAM  TRACK  FACILITIES. 


atthStft  Western  Avo. 

2&fh  St  ft  Fronciseo  Sr 

1st  St  fc  Turner  Ave 


FREIGHT  HANDLED  AT  MCCORMICK  STATION  FOR  ALL  RAILROADS. 


ITS  LABOR  SUPPLY.  107 


vegetables,  most  of  which  is  vended  from  wagons  through  the  resi- 
dence streets  of  the  city.  The  vehicles  of  these  itinerant  venders  of 
vegetables  of  various  kinds  play  a  most  important  part  in  the  food 
supply  of  the  city  during  the  summer  and  autumnal  months  and  sup- 
ply the  place  of  city  markets. 

Chicago  is  the  largest  fruit  market  both  in  the  variety  and  quantity 
of  products  in  the  United  States,  and  much  of  the  fruit,  like  berries, 
cherries,  peaches,  apples  and  grapes,  is  produced  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  city,  while  the  tropical  and  sub-tropical  fruits  are  always 
abundant  in  the  city  markets.  Choice  fruits  are  not  luxuries  in  this 
city. 

While  these  advantages  are  important  in  their  bearing  in  making 
the  workman  contented,  there  is  another  element  that  has  a  still 
stronger  influence  upon  him.  There  is  no  subject  that  is  more  fre- 
quently discussed  by  students  in  sociology  than  the  constant  and 
increasing  tendency  of  young  men  to  leave  the  country  and  come  to 
the  cities.  This  is  shown  by  the  enumeration  of  the  population  at 
each  decennial  census.  In  1870  the  urban  population  of  the  United  a 
States,  that  is,  population  in  cities  of  8,000  or  over,  was  20.9  per  cent  | 
of  the  total;  in  1880  it  was  22.6  per  cent;  in  1890  it  was  29.2  per  cent,  \ 
and  in  1900  it  was  33.1  per  cent.  In  1900  the  total  population  was 
75,468,039,  of  which  24,992,199  resided  in  the  cities.  This  shows  itself 
in  this  way :  manufacturers  in  small  towns  and  cities,  with  every  acces- 
sory for  profitable  business,  find  they  cannot  keep  in  their  employ 
their  best  operatives.  The  small  city  or  rural  village  is  without  the 
attractions  and  diversions  that  are  abundant  in  a  metropolis.  With 
its  parks,  theatres,  entertainments  of  various  kinds,  and  the  attrac- 
tions always  to  be  found  in  the  swing  of  city  life,  the  young  man  is 
drawn  from  the  country  to  the  large  centers  of  population.  The 
larger  wage  he  receives  in  the  city  is  an  additional  attraction,  for  he 
does  not  stop  to  consider  that  all  his  pleasures  make  a  serious  drain 
upon  his  larger  income. 

If  the  workman  is  a  foreigner  he  is  drawn  to  the  city  by  the  fact 
that  there  are  more  of  his  own  people  there  than  in  the  country,  and    ) 
he  is  anxious  to  add  to  the  pleasure  he  will  have  in  associations  that 
will  connect  him  with  his  old  home. 

This  desire  for  the  atmosphere  of  cosmopolitan  life,  while  it  is 
unquestionably  injurious  to  the  country,  is  an  asset  of  great  value  to 
the  manufacturer  located  in  a  city.  It  gives  him  an  ample  number  of 
both  skilled  and  common  workmen  in  his  regular  business,  and  in  case 
of  an  emergency,  when  he  may  desire  to  increase  his  operating  force, 


108  CHICAGO : 


either  temporarily  or  permanently,  he  has  an  unfailing  supply  upon 
which  to  draw.  His  work  need  never  be  delayed  or  crippled  because 
of  a  failure  to  secure  competent  operatives. 

The  result  of  this  is  that  the  laboring  foreigner  is  not  a  "floater." 
He  remains  a  permanent  resident  of  the  city.  He  becomes,  by  reason 
of  steady  employment  at  remunerative  wages,  a  house  owner,  his  chil- 
dren, through  the  agency  of  the  public  schools,  soon  become  thor- 
oughly Americanized  in  language,  customs  and  associations.  Of  the 
second  generation  a  few  speak  the  language  of  their  parents,  and 
fewer  still  follow  the  menial  occupations  of  their  fathers.  New 
arrivals  maintain  the  quota  of  unskilled  labor  and  the  supply  always 
equals  the  demand. 


ITS  WAGE  EARNERS  AND  THEIR  WAGES.  109 

XH, 

Chicago— Its  Wage  Earners  and  their  Wages 

"The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire."  Poorly  paid  labor  is  the  most 
expensive,  and,  conversely,  the  highest  paid  is  the  most  efficient  service 
in  the  world  of  industry.  Except  in  rare  instances  when  the  labor  to 
be  performed  requires  some  peculiar  mental  qualifications  or  technical 
education,  the  compensation  for  work  executed  is  regulated  chiefly 
upon  the  cost  of  living,  and  this,  of  course,  is  greatly  influenced  by 
the  market  conditions  at  the  locality  where  the  labor  is  performed. 
The  degree  of  hazard,  like  work  on  tall  steel  structures ;  or  the  menace 
to  health,  like  glass  blowing,  will  enable  workmen  to  secure  a  com- 
pensation above  the  value  of  the  actual  work  performed,  as  measured 
by  hours,  but  these  are  exceptional  occupations,  and  so  far  as  wages 
are  concerned  are  "a  law  unto  themselves." 

It  is  true  also  that  wages  are,  to  some  degree,  controlled  by  trades 
union,  but  such  modifications  as  they  ask  for  are  all  based  upon  the 
cost  of  living  within  the  district  over  which  any  particular  union  may 
exercise  its  influence.  During  the  late  winter  and  early  spring  months 
of  the  last  year,  the  demands  for  an  increase  of  wages  were  universal 
throughout  the  entire  United  States,  but  in  all  cases  the  requests  for 
an  advance  of  wages  was  based  upon  the  abnormally  high  cost  of 
nearly  every  commodity  that  entered  into  the  family  expense  account. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  causes  for  the  admitted  increase  in  the 
cost  of  living,  such  increased  cost  may  be  regarded  as  temporary,  and 
there  is  little  doubt  but  that  the  movement  towards  lower  prices,  which 
is  already  noticeable,  will  soon  reach  the  normal  standard. 

In  a  recent  government  report  on  the  cost  of  living,  the  quantity  of 
food  consumed  annually  by  the  average  family  of  five  persons  is  given 
as  follows  (omitting  fractions)  :  Fresh  beef,  394  pounds ;  flour,  680 
pounds;  potatoes,  14  bushels;  eggs,  85  dozen;  butter,  117  pounds; 
sugar,  268  pounds.  There  is  no  one  of  these  commodities  that  is  more 
costly  in  the  Chicago  market  than  in  that  of  any  large  city,  and  most 
of  them  are  here  perceptibly  lower.  While  the  difference  in  price 
per  item  is  small,  it  amounts  to  a  very  considerable  sum  to  the  wage 
worker  for  the  entire  year.  Such  a  saving  would  be  in  Chicago  $43.00 
as  against  Boston ;  $26.00  as  against  Detroit ;  $58.00  as  against  Pitts- 
burgh and  $51.00  as  against  New  York. 

These  figures  are  for  an  ordinary  family,  but  it  is  a  notable  fact 
that  with  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  unskilled  working  men,  the 


no 


CHICAGO : 


ITS  WAGE  EARNERS  AND  THEIR  WAGES.  Ill 


vast  majority  of  whom  are  of  foreign  birth,  most  of  the  food  used  is 
such  as  they  are  accustomed  to  consume  in  their  native  land,  and  can 
be  purchased  at  a  much  less  cost  than  the  average  food  consumed  by 
the  American  wage  worker. 

In  the  outskirts  of  the  city  there  are  large  areas  of  vacant  property 
which  are  wholly  unoccupied,  and  the  use  of  this  land  is  given  in  small 
tracts  to  working  people  for  cultivation  without  cost  and  is  tilled  by 
the  family  of  the  beneficiary.  In  this  way  very  many  furnish  their 
tables  with  all  the  garden  vegetables  and  potatoes  consumed  by  the 
ordinary  family.  There  are  hundreds  of  acres  of  vegetables  gardens 
within  the  city  limits,  the  products  of  which  are  marketed  from 
wagons  on  the  streets  at  prices  very  much  below  those  asked  for  simi- 
lar articles  at  the  grocery  stores  or  in  the  general  market  places. 

Very  many  of  the  skilled  artisans  of  the  city  own  homes  and  live 
in  the  suburbs,  all  of  which  are  easily  accessible  by  street  car  lines,  the 
elevated  roads,  the  interurban  electric,  or  the  steam  railroads  which 
run,  morning  and  evening,  many  trains  to  accommodate  those  living 
beyond  the  city  limits.  Within  twelve  miles  of  the  center  of  the  city 
there  are  nine  large  villages  or  cities  which  have  frequent  trains  over 
some  one  of  the  many  transportation  lines,  the  fare  being  rarely  in 
excess  of  five  cents  and  in  very  few  cases  over  ten  cents.  Of  these 
villages  more  than  75  per  cent  of  the  adult  male  population  have  their 
work  shops  or  places  of  business  within  the  city  limits.  In  those  sub- 
urbs rents  are,  as  a  rule,  very  considerably  lower  than  they  are  in  the 
city,  while  prices  for  lots  for  residences  are  within  the  reach  of  every 
skilled  working  man  with  any  idea  of  frugality.  All  these  villages 
have  education  facilities  fully  equal  to  those  provided  for  pupils  in  the 
city  schools. 

The  price  of  labor  is  kept  within  the  bounds  of  fairness  and  reason 
by  three  principal  causes.  The  first  is  the  economy  of  living  occa- 
sioned by  the  lower  cost  of  food;  the  second  is  the  natural  effect  of 
competition  between  workmen  that  always  exists  where  labor  is  abun- 
dant; the  third  is  the  large  number  of  working  men  and  laborers  who 
go  into  the  country  for  work  in  the  months  when  there  is  the  least 
demand  for  labor  in  the  city  and  return  when  there  is  the  heaviest 
city  demand  for  workmen  of  all  classes.  This  last  class  is  made  up 
of  sailors  on  the  lakes  during  the  busy  season,  farm  hands  and  the 
large  number  of  employes  at  the  hundreds  of  summer  resorts  about 
Chicago.  The  wage  earning  population  of  the  city,  which  embraces 
those  who  work  in  and  about  manufacturing  plants,  of  which  there  are 
over  9,000,  is  variously  estimated  at  about  250,000,  while  the  unskilled 


112  CHICAGO: 


labor  population  is  estimated  at  about  500,000.  With  such  resources 
to  draw  from,  the  employer  is  never  short  of  operatives  at  a  wage 
fair  to  both  parties. 

But  it  may  be  asked  wliy  it  is,  if  labor  conditions  are  so  satisfactory 
in  Chicago,  that  it  has  so  many  labor  troubles  in  the  form  of  strikes 
and  lockouts?  The  answer  is  plain  and  direct.  Chicago  has  fewer 
labor  disturbances  and  disputes  than  any  city  of  the  first  class  in  the 
country. 

It  is  true  that  within  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years  there  have 
been  several  spectacular  strikes  in  this  city,  of  which  glaring  and 
sensational  reports  were  given  in  the  local  press,  and  still  more  lurid 
accounts  put  on  the  wires  for  publication  in  newspapers  in  other  sec- 
tions of  the  country.  But  with  these  exceptions,  Chicago  has  been 
remarkably  exempt  from  disastrous  industrial  convulsions  that  were 
strictly  local  in  character.  In  common  with  the  country  in  general, 
this  city  has  been  the  victim  of  labor  troubles,  like  the  strike  of  the 
railway  employes  in  1888,  which  extended  from  February  to  August 
in  that  year,  and  involved  nearly  all  the  railroad  systems  of  the  United 
States.  A  similar  convulsion  was  the  so-called  Pullman  strike  of 
1894,  which  reached  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 

The  period  of  greatest  unrest  in  the  labor  world  extended  through 

the  twenty  years  between  1880  and  1900,  during  which  time  Chicago 

\    had,  all  told,  1,737  strikes  of  all  kinds,  as  against  5,000  in  New  York, 

or  an  average  of  eighty-seven  a  year  here,  as  against  250  for  the  same 

period  in  New  York. 

Since  1900  labor  troubles  have  not  been  important.  The  teamsters' 
strike  in  May,  1903,  attracted  considerable  attention,  but  it  affected 
few  concerns  and  was  made  vastly  more  of  than  it  deserved.  A  stran- 
ger in  the  city  might  have  noticed  that  some  trucks  and  drays  had 
a  policeman  occupying  a  seat  with  the  driver,  but  that  is  all.  There 
were  cases  of  individual  violence,  but  otherwise  the  city  was  orderly. 
In  July  of  that  year  the  freight  handlers  struck,  involving  some  9,000 
men.  The  strike  lasted  seven  days.  In  November  the  employes  of 
the  City  Railway  Company  became  dissatisfied  and  quit  work.  In 
1905  a  sensational  strike  of  the  teamsters  employed  by  one  of  the  firms 
of  the  city  received  much  more  publicity  than  it  merited.  It  lasted 
for  a  week  or  more  and  was  attended  with  some  violence,  but  it  con- 
cerned and  affected  only  the  firm  engaged  in  the  dispute. 

The  last  of  these  spectacular  disturbances  was  the  garment  work- 
ers' strike,  which  began  September  22,  1910,  and  continued  until  Feb- 
ruary 3,  1911,  in  which  45,000  strikers  were  involved,  250  firms  being 


ITS  WAGE  EARNERS  AND  THEIR  WAGES.  113 

concerned.  The  feature  most  prominent  in  the  dispute  was  the  open 
shop,  to  which  the  employes  objected.  The  strike  was  finally  settled 
by  the  employes  returning  to  work,  the  open  shop  policy  of  the 
employers  being  maintained.  The  loss  in  wages  by  the  strikers  is  esti- 
mated at  $3,000,000.  There  have  also  been  some  disputes  between 
unions  as  to  which  one  was  entitled  to  perform  the  labor  in  hand,  but 
these  differences  have  existed  everywhere  and  involved  workmen  uni- 
versally in  needless  hair-splitting  disputes.  The  zeal  of  the  newspapers 
for  sensational  reports  has  given  more  importance  to  these  labor  con- 
troveries  than  they  were  entitled  to  receive. 

In  a  city  with  10,000  manufacturing  establishments  there  will  be 
differences  of  opinion  between  an  employer  and  his  employes,  but 
the  latter  have  learned  that  a  strike  is  not  only  exceedingly  disastrous 
to  themselves,  but  also  is  a  poor  expedient  even  as  a  last  resort.  The 
employers  have  found  that  the  better  way  is  to  meet  their  men  with 
a  spirit  of  fairness.  Experience  has  been  an  excellent  teacher,  and  both 
sides  have  profited  by  their  schooling,  expensive  as  it  has  been  in  some 
cases  to  each.  Commonality  of  interest  appeals  to  both  sides  as  the 
best  corrective  for  real  or  fancied  grievances.  Fairness  leads  to  com- 
promise and  compromise  leads  to  peace  and  prosperity  for  all  parties. 
Success  in  business  depends,  in  a  great  degree,  upon  steady  employ- 
ment. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Chicago  is,  by  no  means,  exempt 
from  either  working  men  who  are  radical  and  dictatorial,  or  from 
employers  who  are  unjust  and  penurious,  yet  these  two  extremes  con- 
stitute a  small  proportion  of  employes  and  employers.  There  is  here 
an  enlightened  general  sentiment  which  forms  a  public  opinion  that  is 
respected  by  every  class  of  labor  and  business.  It  is  the  balance  wheel 
that  preserves  peace  and  is  a  strong  element  in  the  prosperity  of 
Chicago.     (Census  of  1905.) 

Wage  Eearners.  Wages. 

New  York*  464,716  $248,128,259 

Chicago   241,984  136„404,096 

Philadelphia    228,899  107,640,307 

St.  Louis   82,093  42,642,358 

Boston    59,160  31,873,185 

Baltimore    65,224  25,633,550 

Pittsburgh 56,229  31,540,678 

Cleveland    64,095  33,471,513 

Buffalo    43,567  21,621,762 

San  Francisco 38,429  25,015,427 

Detroit    48,879  22,786,576 

Cincinnati    58,584  27,389,569 

Milwaukee    43,540  20,910,009 

New  Orleans   17,631  7,444,474 

Washington   6,299  3,658,370 

*Includes  Brooklyn. 


114 


CHICAGO 


MANUFACTURERS  JUNCTION 
RAILWAY 

AND  CONNECTIONS. 

C0KNECTI0AJ5 


fica«o  BotliBtften  tQulncy  Ay. 
Aioa  Ccntr&f  RK. 
mUnd.Cincintui'H.Chieago  It  St.  Loula  By 
nneapolis.St  Paul  L  S&ult  Si«.MAri<  R.7. 
ica^o  IlUoois  hWcciera  R  R. 

»t&4.St.'l>4«thAv«         -fBcltR7.etChic»{e. 

l«<h.St.|(4«thAv«.        ■fBalttanorcfcOhioChlcAto'nrmlnftlRJl. 

HANDLES  INTERCHANCC  CARLOAD  TRAFFIC 
BETWEEN 

IUinoitCcntralR.It. 

Mkxiupclis.  St.P»ttll[S*unc  Stc  JWm  Ry- 

BcJtRy.ofC" 


TEAM  TRACK  FAClLmES. 

25fhSt  tc4&ilxA«e. 

L.e.L.FRErCHT  HANDLED  AT  HAWTHORNE  STATION  FOR  ALL  RAILROADS. 


GENERAL  OFFICES,  500  South  Clinton  Street,  Chicago,  III. 
LOCAL  OFFICES,  25th  Street  and  48th  Avenue,  Hawthorne,  lU. 


d 


AS  A  CITY  OF  HOMES.  115 

XIII, 

Chicago— As  a  City  of  Homes 

The  home  life  of  a  people  is  a  better  indication  of  urban  character 
than  can  be  found  in  their  national  prosperity  or  advancement.  It  is 
the  basis  upon  which  rests  the  moral,  educational  and  artistic  growth 
of  the  citizen,  and  the  broader  the  foundation  the  more  secure  is  the 
social  structure. 

A  home  is  something  more  than  a  place  where  a  man  eats  and 
sleeps.  If  he  has  a  family  growing  up  about  him,  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  the  surroundings  of  his  domicile  and  those  features  of  city 
life  which  contribute  to  his  enjoyment  and  pleasures  are  not  as  vital 
in  the  development  of  a  higher  life  as  the  roof  above  his  head,  or  the 
food  upon  the  table  of  his  family.  It  is  universally  so  regarded,  and 
no  inconsiderable  sums  of  money  are  annually  paid  out  of  every 
city  treasury  for  expenditures  under  the  classification  of  "recrea- 
tion." As  an  evidence  of  the  high  regard  in  which  rational  diver- 
sion is  held  in  American  cities  of  50,000  population  and  over,  it  may 
be  cited  that  while  education  costs  on  the  average  $1.53  per  capita, 
there  is  expended  $0.48  per  capita  for  pastime,  or  nearly  one-third  as 
much  for  schools. 

Under  "recreation"  may  be  classed  parks,  boulevards,  public  con- 
servatories, children's  playgrounds,  band  concerts,  and  other  expedi- 
ents that  make  life  enjoyable  to  the  great  masses  of  people  which 
make  up  a  city's  population.  There  is  no  city  of  the  first  class 
(300,000  or  over)  that  expends  more  money,  per  capita,  for  public 
recreation  than  the  city  of  Chicago.  Of  those  ranking  next  below 
Chicago,  which  expends  $1.22  per  capita  for  this  purpose,  are  Cleve- 
land, $0.89;  New  York,  $0.56,  and  Detroit,  $0.51.  During  the  year 
1908,  however,  Chicago  expends  for  health  conservation  and  sanita- 
tion $1.43  per  capita,  while  New  York  expended  the  same  year  for 
those  objects  $0.83  per  capita. 

The  park  system  of  Chicago  is  one  of  the  most  elaborate  and  wisely 
planned  of  any  similar  public  improvement  certainly  in  this  country. 
The  parks  and  boulevards  are  so  arranged  as  to  place  one  or  more 
of  these  recreation  grounds  in  each  of  those  localities  where  the  resi- 
dent population  can  reach  them  most  expeditiously,  and  which  are, 
at  the  same  time,  most  accessible  to  the  center,  or  congested,  sec- 
tions of  the  city.  The  park  areas  are  divided  into  systems  as  follows : 
South   Park   system,   2,494.74   acres;   West   Park   system,    1,035.43 


116  CHICAGO : 


acres,  and  Lincoln  Park  system,  699.94  acres;  other  small  parks  and 
squares,  143.56  acres;  unimproved,  54.83  acres,  making  a  total  of 
4,428.50  acres.  In  addition  to  these  is  the  North  Shore  Park  district, 
which,  while  it  has  as  yet  no  parks,  has  four  miles  of  boulevards, 
including  Sheridan  Road,  Ashland  Avenue  and  Pratt  Boulevards  or 
drives. 

The  South  Park  system  embraces  Jackson  Park  (542.89  acres), 
Washington  Park  (371  acres),  Marquette  Park  (322.68  acres).  Grant 
Park  (205.14  acres),  McKinley  Park  (74.88  acres),  Gage  Park  (20 
acres),  Sherman  Park,  (60.60  acres),  Ogden  Park  (60.56  acres), 
Palmer  Park  (40.48  acres),  Hamilton  Park  (29.95  acres),  Bessemer 
Park  (22.88  acres),  Calumet  Park  (66.19  acres),  with  eleven  other 
small  parks  and  squares  containing  from  20.19  to  7  acres  each. 

The  West  Park  system  includes  Humboldt  Park  (205.86  acres), 
Garfield  Park  (187.53  acres),  Douglas  Park  (181.99  acres).  Union 
Park  (17.37  acres),  with  ten  smaller  parks  having  areas  of  from  1.13 
acres  to  10  acres  each.  Another  large  park  is  to  be  made  on  the  large 
■wooded  tract  west  of  Central  Avenue  and  South  of  Adams  Street. 

The  Lincoln  Park  system  takes  in  Lincoln  Park  (552  acres),  with 
four  small  parks  varying  in  area  from  1.73  to  9  acres  each.  These 
systems  are  connected  by  wide  boulevards,  paved  with  asphaltum,  and 
vary  in  width  from  66  feet  to  200  feet,  generally  with  a  park  area  in 
the  center,  and  lined  with  shade  trees.  The  total  length  of  these 
boulevards  and  drives  is  about  65  miles. 

The  parks  are  beautifully  wooded  with  walks,  drives,  bodies  of 
water  for  boating,  flower  gardens  and  picnic  grounds.  One  of  them 
(Lincoln  Park)  has  one  of  the  largest  zoological  collections  in  the 
country,  with  elephants,  buffaloes,  bears  of  many  kinds,  lions,  tigers, 
seals,  prairie  dogs,  and  many  rare  and  interesting  foreign  and  domestic 
animals  and  birds.  At  Garfield  Park  is  the  largest  conservatory  in 
the  country,  filled  with  tropical  plants  and  trees  of  innumerable 
variety.  Some  of  the  parks  have  golf  links,  baseball  grounds,  tennis 
courts  and  other  facilities  for  recreation  and  games.  They  are  all 
adorned  with  statuary  and  other  objects  of  interest  and  instruction. 
The  absence  of  "Keep  off  the  grass"  signs  are  so  rare  as  to  be  the 
subject  of  comment  with  strangers. 

In  one  respect  Chicago  is  unrivaled  by  any  city  in  the  world,  and 
that  is  the  number  and  extent  of  small  parks,  or  children's  play- 
grounds. There  are  between  sixty  and  seventy  of  these  public  neigh- 
borhood centers  of  recreation,  of  which  thirty  are  small  parks  and 
squares,   fourteen  are  playgrounds,   seventeen  are   small  parks  and 


AS  A  CITY  OF  HOMES.  117 

playgrounds  combined  and  three  are  bathing  beaches.  At  the  neigh- 
borhood centers  are  commodious  buildings  of  concrete  with  rooms 
set  apart  where  women  can  congregate,  hold  their  club  or  other 
meetings,  or  visit,  as  they  see  fit. 

No  one  is  so  poor  as  to  be  excluded  from  the  occupancy  and  use  of 
these  centers,  nor  so  rich  as  not  to  recognize  their  full  value  in  fur- 
nishing relief  from  the  hard  conditions  of  living  in  the  congested 
quarters  of  the  city. 

The  children's  playgrounds  are  inclosed  with  iron  fences,  from 
which  children  cannot  escape.  They  have  sand  piles,  swings,  athletic 
paraphernalia  of  all  kinds,  wading  pools,  and  other  features  for  the 
entertainment  of  children.  They  are  under  the  care  of  public  attend- 
ants who  look  after  and  care  for  the  children,  big  or  little,  who  may 
be  delivered  there  by  their  parents.  A  woman  who  goes  out  to  service 
for  a  day  can  leave  her  children  at  the  nearest  playground,  certain 
that  she  will  find  them  there,  safe  and  sound,  when  she  comes  for 
them.  At  two  of  the  fourteen  playgrounds  in  the  year  1910  there 
were  2,969,197  boys  and  girls  who,  but  for  them,  would  have  been 
in  the  streets,  alleys  or  some  vacant  lot,  under  little  or  no  public  or 
parental  control. 

The  number  of  people  at  the  bathing  beaches  averages  about  half 
a  million  each  season.  Chicago  was  the  first  city  in  America  to  pro- 
vide free  public  baths  for  its  people.  It  has  now  fifteen  of  these  in- 
stitutions, maintained  at  public  expense,  which  any  citizen  can  use  at 
pleasure.  Certain  days  are  set  apart  respectively  for  men  and  women, 
boys  and  girls,  who  are  furnished  free  with  bathing  suits,  soap, 
towels,  with  lockers  for  the  safe  keeping  of  their  clothing.  The  large 
swimming  pools  are  an  attraction  for  men  of  means,  who  have  bath- 
rooms in  their  homes,  as  well  as  for  the  poor  who  have  not.  Every- 
thing about  these  public  bathing  places  is  scrupulously  clean,  they  are 
always  in  the  best  sanitary  condition,  and  are  patronized  by  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  people  annually,  by  no  means  of  the  poorer  classes 
exclusively.  These  public  baths  have  been  established  at  an  expense 
to  the  city  of  $290,940  and  are  open  the  entire  year.  The  cost  of 
maintaining  these  parks,  playgrounds,  bathing  beaches  and  free  baths 
is  about  $4,250,000  annually. 

While  these  municipal  parks,  playgrounds,  beaches  and  baths  are 
all  open  and  free  to  the  public  at  seasonable  hours,  Chicago  has  a 
number  of  amusement  parks,  owned  and  managed  by  individuals, 
which  are  enclosed,  and  to  which  a  small  admission  fee,  usually  ten 
cents,   is   charged.     The  principal   feature  of  these  grounds   is   the 


lis 


CHICAGO 


^ AS  A  CITY  OF  HOMES.  119 

band  concerts  given  by  the  best  known  and  most  popular  organizations 
in  the  country.  For  those  who  do  not  care  for  the  music  there  are 
roller  coasters,  shoot  the  chutes,  scenic  railway,  shooting  galleries  and 
shows  of  various  kinds,  for  each  of  which  a  charge  is  made  for  admis- 
sion from  five  to  twenty-five  cents.  As  a  rule,  these  amusement  parks 
have  fine  restaurants  which  are  visited  by  many  of  the  best  people  of 
the  cky.  They  are  generally  free  from  rowdyism  and  are  well  pat- 
ronized by  those  who  seek  an  afternoon  or  evening  of  simple  fun. 

But  Chicago  abounds  in  many  attractions  of  a  higher  order  than 
any  of  the  foregoing,  important  as  those  may  be,  for  the  numerous 
class  that  constitutes  the  larger  portion  of  the  population  of  a  great 
metropolis.  There  are  few  recreations  that  are  adapted  to  every 
one's  tastes.  Chicago  for  many  years  was  the  butt  of  ridicule  by 
those  cities  which  were  large,  rich  and  prosperous  when  Chicago  was 
nothing  more  than  a  collection  of  shacks  and  log  huts  sprawled  over 
a  marsh.  But  the  city  grew  and  broadened  in  refinement,  as  well  as 
in  trade  and  commerce  until,  in  this  year  of  grace,  no  city  in  the 
United  States  ranks  above  Chicago  as  an  educational,  artistic,  musical 
and  literary  center.  It  has  won  recognition  from  its  former  critics, 
and  the  few  slurs  now  cast  at  us  are  evidences  of  jealousy  and  envy, 
rather  than  of  superior  culture  or  refinement.  A  New  York  maga- 
zine in  a  recent  issue  contained  an  article  on  Chicago  which  said: 
"Long  a  popular  subject  for  the  humorist  of  the  Eastern  States,  as 
well  as  those  of  Europe,  was  the  supposed  lack  of  culture  and  educa- 
tion of  Chicago.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  whatever  may  have  been  her 
earlier  shortcomings  in  this  regard,  Chicago  today  puts  New  York, 
Boston  and  Philadelphia  fairly  to  the  blush." 

The  World's  Columbian  Exposition  in  1893  was  the  awakening  of 
the  city  to  a  full  appreciation  of  the  aesthetic  side  of  life,  and  since 
then  its  progress  has  been  rapid  and  marked.  The  first  evidence  of 
this  vigilance  was  the  organization  of  the  Thomas  Orchestra,  which 
resulted  in  the  erection  of  Orchestra  Hall  by  popular  subscriptions 
amounting  to  $900,000.00.  The  hall  seats  2,577  people,  and  is  the 
finest  concert  and  recital  hall  in  the  country.  The  orchestra  is  com- 
posed of  eighty-seven  musicians  and  is  second  to  none  in  the  high 
professional  standard  and  character  of  its  members.  The  orchestra 
season  continues  for  twenty-eight  weeks,  two  concerts  being  given 
each  week.  In  addition  to  this,  there  are  several  musical  societies 
which  have  more  than  a  national  reputation  for  rendering  classical 
music,  among  which  are  the  Apollo  Musical  Club,  the  Mendelssohn, 
the   German   Mannerchor,   and   the   Irish   Choral   Society.     Musical 


120  CHICAGO : 


schools  and  colleges  are  numerous  and  of  a  high  rank,  Chicago  hav- 
ing the  largest  musical  college  in  the  world. 

In  the  arts  of  painting  and  sculpture,  Chicago  recognizes  no  supe- 
rior in  America.  The  Art  Institute  was  an  outgrowth  of  the  Colum- 
bian Exposition,  although  as  a  school  of  art  and  design  it  had  been 
in  existence  since  1866.  The  building,  costing  nearly  $1,000,000, 
stands  near  the  business  center  of  the  city  in  Grant  Park  and  is  filled 
with  paintings  and  statuary  from  the  best  masters  and  curios  without 
number.  It  is  open  to  visitors  every  day,  Wednesday,  Saturday  and 
Sunday  being  free  to  anyone  who  wishes  to  visit  it ;  the  admission  fee 
for  other  days  being  twenty-five  cents.  As  evidence  of  public  appre- 
ciation, it  may  be  said  that  during  the  last  ten  years  the  number  of 
visitors  annually  has  exceeded  that  of  any  art  museum  in  the  United 
States,  and  for  the  last  few  years  over  700,000  persons  have  visited 
it  annually.  Neither  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  New  York,  the 
Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  nor  the  Philadelphia  Academy  can 
claim  nearly  so  many  guests.  There  is  a  fine  art  school  connected 
with  the  institute,  both  of  which  are  self-sustaining. 

Of  theatres  Chicago  has  between  thirty-five  and  forty,  of  which 
some  thirty  are  strictly  high  class,  giving  attractions  of  superior  char- 
acter. In  all  their  appointments  they  are  the  equals  of  the  best  of 
those  of  any  American  city. 

That  Chicago  is  now  the  library  center  of  the  country  cannot  be 
doubted,  since  it  is  the  headquarters  of  the  American  Library  Asso- 
ciation, which  was  removed  from  Boston  in  1910.  This  was  made 
necessary  from  the  fact  that  the  West  is  now  the  center  of  library 
activity  of  the  continent,  and  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  asso- 
ciation a  change  was  necessary.  When  a  transfer  was  demanded  New 
York  and  Washington  were  strong  competitors,  and  Boston  sought 
to  retain  it,  but  Chicago  was  practically  the  unanimous  choice  of  the 
committee.  This  brings  to  Chicago  librarians  from  all  parts  of  the 
civilized  world  annually. 

Nothing  contributes  more,  even  if  somewhat  indirectly,  to  the 
comforts  of  living  than  paved  and  well  sewered  streets.  Chicago's 
critics  often  hold  up  their  hands  in  holy  horror  because  of  our  "dirty 
streets."  It  may  be  admitted  that  some  of  our  streets  are  littered,  but 
"a  workman  is  known  by  his  chips."  Where  manufacturing  is  carried 
on  to  the  extent  in  which  it  now  is  in  this  city,  there  will  be  highways 
that  are  not  so  clean  as  the  boulevards  and  residence  streets,  but  for 
pleasure  driving,  there  are  few  cities  which  are  so  free  from  waste 
and  debris  as  Chicago's  avenues  and  drives,  nor  are  there  any,  except 


AS  A  CITY  OF  HOMES. 


121 


in  the  limits  districts,  that  are  more  free  from  water  and  mud.  The 
following  table  shows  the  miles  of  paved  streets  and  sewers  in  the 
five  leading  American  cities  with  which  a  comparison  can  be  made, 
and  speaks  well  for  Chicago : 


City 


New  York* . 

Chicago 

Philadelphia 

St.  Louis 

Boston 


Miles  of 
Improved  Streets 


1,908.1 

1,730.51 

1,307.6 

712.0 

506.2 


Sewers 


1,834.2 

1,724.2 

1,103.4 

639.2 

729.3 


*Includes  Brooklyn. 

Pure  water  and  an  abundance  of  it  are  essential  to  a  sanitary  and 
pleasant  home.  Lake  Michigan,  which  forms  for  eighteen  and  one- 
half  miles  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  city,  is  one  of  the  purest  bodies 
of  water  on  the  globe.  It  has  always  furnished  the  domestic  water 
supply  of  the  city  from  the  settlement  of  the  town  to  January 
2,  1900,  the  lake  was  also  the  repository  of  the  city's  sewage.  Pres- 
ervation of  the  public  health  demanded  another  outlet  for  the  sewers. 
At  an  expense  of  about  $66,000,000  a  canal  was  cut,  24  feet  deep  and 
160  feet  wide  for  32  miles,  across  the  divide  between  Lake  Michigan 
and  the  Desplaines  river,  by  which  the  flow  of  the  Chicago  river  was 
reversed  and  turned  from  the  lake  into  the  Desplaines,  finding  its  ulti- 
mate outlet  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  effect  of  this  improvement  on  the  public  health  was  pro- 
nounced and  almost  instantaneous.  The  latest  statistics  of  the  annual 
death  rate,  in  comparison  with  that  data  of  ten  years  ago,  show  how 
important  a  factor  pure  water  is  in  the  health  of  a  great  city.  In  1911 
the  death  rate  of  the  city  was  14.5  per  1,000  of  population,  which  is 
the  lowest  rate  of  any  city  of  first  class  magnitude  in  the  world.  This 
rate  has  been  reached  by  the  prevention  of  those  diseases  which  are 
superinduced  by  contaminated  drinking  water.  The  amount  of  water 
consumed  by  the  two  and  one-half  million  people  in  the  city  is  about 
436,000,000  gallons  per  diem,  and  improvements  are  now  being  made 
which  will  give  double  that  quantity  daily.  The  cost  to  the  family 
for  an  unfailing  supply  daily  is  nominal— about  the  expense  neces- 
sary to  keep  a  well  pump  in  good  order. 


122  CHICAGO: 


Miles  of 
Water  Mains. 

New  York    2,091.9 

Chicago    2,073.2 

Philadelphia    1,529.6 

St.  Louis  813.0 

Boston  743.6 

A  movement  was  inaugurated  early  in  the  spring  of  1910  that  will 
do  much  to  add  to  the  attractiveness  of  home  life  in  Chicago,  and 
this  was  the  setting  of  shade  trees  along  those  streets  that  were  with- 
out them  and  replacing  the  old  trees  which  had  either  died  or  by 
neglect  had  ceased  to  be  ornamental.  The  plan,  under  the  direction 
of  a  competent  forester,  at  once  became  popular  and  several  thou- 
sand trees,  principally  elms,  have  been  transplanted  and  properly 
cared  for.  The  elm  is  perfectly  adapted  to  our  soil  and  climate,  grows 
rapidly,  and  by  continuing  the  work  thus  begun  for  a  very  few  years, 
Chicago  will  have  no  rivals  in  the  beauty  of  its  well-shaded  streets. 
In  many  other  ways  the  popular  idea  of  a  more  beautiful  city  is 
showing  itself  in  adornments  that  contribute  directly  to  the  refine- 
ment and  pleasures  of  domestic  life. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  necessities  of  a  pleasant  home  and  enjoy- 
able, sanitary  life  which  are  to  be  found  in  Chicago.  Many  important 
features  have  been  passed  over.  The  level  streets,  abundant  shade 
trees,  alluring  short  trips  to  numberless  near-by  summer  resorts,  com- 
paratively low  cost  of  elegant  homes,  social  pleasures  unsurpassed 
by  any  municipality  in  Christendom,  and  open  markets  of  endless 
variety  are  a  few  of  the  charms  that  even  the  casual  visitor  will  notice. 
Chicago  is  called  "The  Garden  City"  because  of  its  many  homelike 
allurements. 


ITS  ECONOMICAL  LIVING.  m 

XIV. 

Chicago — Its  Economical  Living 

In  another  division  of  this  volume  some  mention  has  been  made  as 
to  the  cost  of  living  in  this  city,  but  it  had  reference  only  to  its  effect 
upon  the  price  paid  for  labor. 

While  the  statements  made  in  that  section  hold  good  in  all  cases, 
with  rich  as  well  as  those  of  moderate  means,  the  sum  paid  for  neces- 
saries  of  life  are  not  so  important  a  factor  with  the  former  as  with 
the  latter  class.  It  does  not  require  an  argument  to  prove  that  the 
nearer  one  is  to  the  point  of  production,  the  less  his  necessities  will 
cost  him,  since  about  70  per  cent  of  the  total  cost  of  living  is  expended 
for  transportation.  The  less  the  transportation,  the  less  the  cost  to  the 
consumer. 

The  well-to-do  citizen,  using  a  greater  variety  of  products  than  his 
employe  and,  possibly,  either  a  better  quality  or  a  larger  quantity, 
has,  by  his  proximity  to  the  point  of  production,  an  equal  advantage 
with  him  in  the  lesser  amount  paid  for  transportation.  He  also  gets 
the  benefit  of  larger  purchases,  since  a  peck  of  potatoes  costs  more  in 
proportion  to  quantity  than  a  bushel. 

The  proposition  will  not  be  disputed  that  the  Middle  West  is  the 
granary  of  the  United  States,  if  not  the  principal  one  of  the  world. 
This  fact  is  demonstrated  by  the  census  reports  of  the  Government 
which  show  that  the  Middle  West  has  not  only  57  per  cent  of  the 
improved  farms  of  the  United  States,  but  has  also  58  per  cent  of  the 
live  stock  and  produces  49  per  cent  of  the  farm  produce.  So  far  as 
food  products  are  concerned,  that  section  has  56  per  cent  of  the 
poultry,  produces  54  per  cent  of  the  butter,  45  per  cent  of  the  cheese, 
7?t  per  cent  of  the  corn,  67  per  cent  of  the  wheat,  52  per  cent  of  the 
potatoes,  and  21  per  cent  of  the  orchard  products  of  the  country. 
Besides  these,  it  furnishes  practically  all  of  the  meat  that  is  used  in 
the  country  and  more  than  half  of  the  flour. 

Chicago  has  no  markets  for  the  sale  of  family  food  supplies  that 
compare  in  plans  and  methods  with  those  in  many  of  our  large  Ameri- 
can cities.  First,  because  the  resident  population  is  so  very  widely 
scattered  over  a  large  area,  and  second,  because  vegetable  products 
are  largely  vended  by  the  owners  of  truck  gardens  which  are  located 
near  the  limits  on  three  sides  of  the  city.  To  some  extent  this  variety 
of  food  is  peddled  on  the  street  from  wagons  owned  principally  by 
foreigners,  mostly  Greeks. 


124 


CHICAGO : 


ITS  ECONOMICAL  LIVING. m 

There  is,  however,  one  market,  or  rather  street,  where  fruits, 
vegetables,  butter,  eggs  and  the  like  are  sold,  which  is  one  of  the  "show 
places"  of  the  city,  and  is  fully  as  interesting  and  far  more  surprising 
than  the  famous  French  Market  of  New  Orleans.  This  is  South 
Water  Street,  which  lies  along  the  main  stream  of  the  Chicago  river 
and  extends  from  Central  Court  to  Lake  Street,  a  distance  of  ten 
blocks,  of  which  six  are  given  up  to  the  purposes  of  a  market.  Both 
sides  of  the  street  are  lined  with  brick  or  stone  buildings,  which  are 
occupied  by  300  or  more  commission,  jobbing  and  wholesale  concerns, 
dealing  in  almost  every  variety  of  farm  products,  from  veal  to  eggs, 
and  in  fruits  of  endless  diversity,  both  domestic,  foreign  and  tropical — 
magnificent  pineapples,  fourteen  days  from  Honolulu,  oranges  from 
California  and  Florida,  and  bananas  from  Central  America,  with 
apples  from  Washington,  Oregon  and  Michigan,  and  peaches  and 
grapes  from  everywhere. 

The  sidewalks  are  filled  so  completely  with  boxes,  crates,  barrels 
and  baskets  that  passers  must  go  in  single  file  and  crowd  in  between 
the  barrels  to  permit  the  passage  of  persons  going  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion. Backed  up  to  these  walks  are  teams  as  thick  as  they  can  stand, 
and  it  is  not  uncommon  that  between  18,000  and  20,000  teams,  receiv- 
ing or  delivering  purchases,  have  been  counted  in  the  street  at  the 
busy  hours.  As  a  rule,  the  goods,  in  boxes,  crates,  baskets  and  barrels 
are  delivered  to  the  consignee  in  the  rear  of  his  store  and  by  him  to 
the  purchaser  at  the  front,  or  street,  entrance.  In  the  middle  of  the 
street  there  is  barely  space  for  the  passage  of  a  single  horse  and 
wagon. 

One  item  shows  the  immensity  of  the  business  done  in  this  com- 
paratively narrow  and  contracted  space.  Statistics  show  that  the 
eggs  alone  handled  in  a  year  amount  to  2,598,000  cases,  or  935,280,000 
eggs,  the  total  annual  volume  of  this  trade  alone  being  $25,000,000  or 
$30,000,000.  The  apple  business  will  reach  1,000,000  barrels,  the 
California  oranges  2,200  carloads,  Florida  oranges  and  grape  fruit 
700  carloads  of  about  300  boxes  to  the  car;  bananas,  4,000  carloads  of 
450  branches  each;  potatoes  from  Colorado,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin 
are  mixed  with  barrels  of  grapes  from  Italy,  tomatoes  from  Texas 
and  strawberries  from  Tennessee. 

With  all  the  hurry,  bustle  and  activity,  a  single  individual,  either 
man  or  woman,  can  make  small  purchases  there  as  easily  and  expedi- 
tiously as  in  the  country  store. 

The  West  Side  market  at  Haymarket  Square  is  an  altogether  dif- 
ferent place.     Provision  is  made  for  it  by  widening  West  Randolph 


126  CHICAGO 


Street  between  Jefferson  and  North  Halsted  Streets,  so  as  to  give 
ample  space  for  farm  wagons  to  occupy  the  middle  of  the  street  with- 
out interfering  with  the  street  car  tracks.  The  market  is  uncovered 
and  produce,  garden  truck  ahiiost  exclusively,  is  sold  from  the  wagons. 
In  the  forenoon  the  space  is  occupied  by  wagons,  which  are  usually 
emptied  by  noon,  when  the  owners  return  to  their  farms  and  gardens. 
Excellent  vegetables,  like  potatoes,  onions,  squash,  beets,  and  the  like, 
can  be  purchased  here  as  reasonably  as  in  the  average  country  village. 
Another  market  similar,  though  not  so  large,  is  known  as  the  Dayton 
Street  market,  located  on  the  North  Side,  at  Dayton  and  Blackhawk 
Streets,  a  block  south  of  North  Avenue  and  a  block  west  of  Halsted 
Street. 

In  wearing  apparel  Chicago  is  second  to  no  market  in  the  country. 
It  is  the  largest  place  of  traffic  for  fine  shoes,  for  both  men  and 
women,  most  of  which  are  made  in  the  city.  In  fact,  it  is  the  superla- 
tive excellence  of  this  product  that  has  built  up  for  this  city  its  large 
trade  in  such  goods.  There  are  no  cheap  shoes  made  in  Chicago.  In 
clothing  there  is  no  market  in  the  country  that  excels  the  Chicago 
production  either  for  quality  or  volume.  To  the  laboring  man  it  is 
important  if  he  can  save  a  couple  of  dollars  on  a  suit  of  clothes,  a 
dollar  on  his  overcoat  and  fifty  cents  on  a  pair  of  shoes,  for  he  pur- 
chases exactly  what  he  requires.  But  it  is  of  equal  importance  to  a 
man  who  requires  a  finer  and  more  dressy  outfit  if  he  can  purchase 
precisely  what  he  demands  at  a  saving  of  from  $10.00  to  $25.00.  In 
men's  garments  the  value  of  manufactured  goods  made  in  this  city 
in  1911  is  estimated  as  follows:  Clothing,  $58,100,000,  and  the  variety 
classed  as  tailor  to  the  trade,  $27,135,000. 

In  ladies'  wear  the  advantages  of  Chicago's  market  is  possibly 
more  marked.  In  dry  goods  and  millinery,  Chicago  holds  a  place  sec- 
ond to  no  city  on  American  soil,  while  its  department  stores  are 
unequaled  anywhere  in  their  size,  number  or  stocks.  The  manufac- 
tures of  millinery  goods  during  last  year  are  estimated  at  $18,500,000 
(not  including  wholesale  trade),  while  the  product  of  cloaks  and  furs 
very  nearly  equals  it.  It  is  not  claimed  that  Chicago  has  lines  of 
goods  in  any  of  these  departments  of  trade  that  cannot  be  matched  in 
any  one  of  a  dozen  other  cities  of  the  country,  but  it  is  asserted  that 
no  city  can  rival  our  own  in  the  lower  prices  at  which  such  goods 
are  retailed.  The  statement  that  Chicago  is  the  largest  open  market 
in  the  country  will  hardly  be  questioned  anywhere. 

In  household  furniture  this  city  is  unequaled  both  as  a  market  or 
a  manufacturing  center.    Last  year's  estimates  put  the  manufactures 


ITS  ECONOMICAL  LIVING.  127 

of  these  goods  at  $42,300,000,  and  the  value  of  the  wholesale  trade  at 
considerable  of  an  advance.  In  discussing  the  subject  of  raw  mate- 
rials it  was  shown  that  Chicago  holds  the  lead  of  all  domestic  lumber 
markets,  and  this  has  an  important  bearing  upon  the  cost  of  home 
building.  With  the  abundance  of  lime,  cement  (most  of  which  is 
produced  here),  brick  and  stone,  the  cost  of  building  a  home  is  from 
20  to  35  per  cent  less  than  in  most  other  cities,  large  or  small,  of  the 
country. 

The  price  of  land  for  residences  is  regarded,  especially  by  people 
from  the  East,  as  surprisingly  low.  Choice  building  lots  in  some  of 
the  most  attractive  residence  sections  of  the  city,  provided  with  gas, 
electricity,  water,  sewers,  paved  streets  and  cement  walks,  within 
twenty  or  thirty  minutes'  ride  by  elevated  road  from  the  business 
center,  or  loop  district,  and  located  within  two  or  three  blocks  of 
schools,  churches,  stores  and  markets,  can  be  bought  at  from  $50  to 
$100  per  front  foot. 

Attractive  homes  can  be  rented  in  these  localities  at  prices  vary- 
ing from  $25  to  $75  a  month  or  at  higher  rates  if  one  is  disposed  to 
expend  something  extra  for  a  larger  and  more  showy  residence. 
Along  the  boulevards  or  fronting  the  parks,  or  in  ultra- fashionable 
quarters,  he  can  accommodate  the  most  plethoric  pocketbook.  But 
good  homes,  with  every  essential  of  refinement,  comfort  and  conve- 
nience, can  be  secured  either  by  purchase  or  rental  at  an  extremely 
moderate  outlay. 


128 


CHICAGO : 


ITS   ETHICAL  AND   EDUCATIONAL  ADVANTAGES.  129 


XV. 

Chicago— Its  Ethical  and  Educational 
Advantages 

The  moral  and  intellectual  status  of  any  people  in  any  community 
is  measured  with  more  unerring  accuracy  by  the  religious  and  edu- 
cational advantages  they  possess  than  by  any  other  known  standard. 
Great  cities  are  invariably  the  nerve  centers  of  the  state  or  country  in 
which  they  are  located.  They  attract  and  retain  the  best  men  and  the 
most  infamous,  the  finest  churches,  schools  and  universities,  and  the 
lowest  dens  of  infamy  and  ignorance,  hospitals  and  asylums  for  the 
physically  distressed,  and  hovels  where  pain  and  suffering  are  the 
common  lot  of  men.  The  conflict  between  these  diametric  elements  for 
municipal  control  is  constant  and  often  bitter.  The  ascendency  of  one 
or  the  other  is  shown  by  the  character  of  the  local  government  and 
the  power  of  those  institutions  which  stand  for  the  betterment  of  the 
people. 

Chicago  differs  in  few  respects  from  other  great  cities.  In  fact,  it 
has  some  disadvantages  not  common  to  many  American  cities.  It  is  at 
the  "crossing  of  the  ways"  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Coast 
cities,  as  well  as  between  those  on  the  northern  frontier  and  the  Mex- 
ican Gulf.  The  result  is  that  Chicago  has  a  larger  floating  population 
with  which  to  contend  than  any  other  city  in  the  country.  And  yet  the 
percentage  of  crime  here  is  less  than  most  of  those  municipalities  of 
the  same  rank  in  this  country.  It  is  less,  in  proportion  to  population 
in  Chicago  than  in  Baltimore,  Boston,  Buffalo,  Cleveland,  New  York, 
New  Orleans,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburgh,  and  a  number  of  other  im- 
portant cities.  These  calculations  are  based  on  the  number  of  crimes 
against  persons  and  property  (statutory  offenses)  omitting  violations 
of  city  ordinances  because  there  is  no  uniformity  in  municipal  re- 
strictions; acts  being  a  violation  of  an  ordinance  in  one  city  may  not 
be  such  in  another. 

Whatever  one  may  think  of  churches  in  general,  there  is  no  dis- 
puting the  proposition  that,  both  directly  and  indirectly,  they  constitute 
the  strongest  moral  force  in  any  community.  Their  influence  bears 
not  only  upon  the  citizen  as  an  individual,  but  also  on  the  citizens  col- 
lectively, as  the  chief  instrument  for  securing  good  government, 
civic  righteousness,  or  right  mindedness,  which  is  the  only  source  of 
good  government. 


130 


CHICAGO 


ITS   ETHICAL  AND   EDUCATIONAL  ADVANTAGES.  131 

There  are  in  Chicago  ten  non-partisan  organizations  which  have 
for  their  fundamental  idea  not  only  good  government,  but  also  the  se- 
lection of  candidates  for  official  positions  who  command  the  respect 
of  the  voters  for  their  honesty,  ability  and  character,  and  the  high 
standing  of  the  common  council  of  the  city  furnishes  abundant  evi- 
dence of  the  effective  work  done  by  some  of  these  organizations  in 
maintaining  the  high  reputation  of  our  municipal  legislative  body. 
This  is  admitted  in  every  city  in  the  country.  It  is  true  a  bad  man 
will  occasionally  break  into  every  city  in  the  country.  It  is  true  a  bad 
man  will  break  into  the  city  council  and  retain  for  years  his  position, 
but  of  the  seventy  aldermen  composing  the  Common  Council  of  Chi- 
cago all  the  "gray  wolves"  can  be  counted  on  a  man's  fingers. 
"Offenses  will  come,  but  woe  unto  that  man  by  whom  they  come"  at 
the  succeeding  election. 

Chicago  is  very  greatly  indebted  to  its  churches  and  their  influ- 
ences in  every  department  of  its  activities.  When  it  is  known  that  Chi- 
cago has  1,077  churches,  the  aggregate  of  effort  exercised  along  moral 
if  not  sectarian  lines,  can  be  well  understood.  If  there  be  added  to 
these  the  thirty-three  church  societies,  such  as  clubs,  ministerial  and 
general  organizations,  which  work  outside  of  the  church  itself,  we  have 
a  force  for  moral  development  of  the  community  that  is  worthy  of 
attention.  The  churches  maintain  about  twenty  hospitals,  which  in 
their  appointments  and  capacity  rank  with  the  best  public  institutions 
of  similar  character  in  the  city  or  state. 

Next  to  the  moral  influence  as  a  factor  in  good  government,  al- 
though less  direct,  is  the  system  of  public  schools,  maintained  by  the 
city  at  an  annual  outlay  of  over  $12,000,000.  To  the  citizen  there  are 
few  things  that  are  regarded  as  more  important  than  the  education 
facilities  offered  him  for  the  schooling  and  training  of  his  children. 
In  fact  few  public  utilities  are  more  seriously  considered  by  a  person 
seeking  a  home  than  the  educational  advantages  that  are  offered  him. 
If  he  be  an  employer  of  labor  the  instruction  of  the  children  of  his 
employes  is  of  nearly  as  much  importance  to  him  as  the  training  of 
his  own. 

The  number  of  the  public  schools  of  the  city  is  267,  with  407  build- 
ings, with  6,226  teachers  who  are  paid  over  $7,000,000  for  the  school 
year,  and  who  train  over  300,000  pupils.  Beside  a  Normal  College 
and  three  practice  schools  for  the  training  of  teachers,  there  are  a 
parental  school,  John  Worthy  School  for  truant  boys,  sixteen  high 
schools,  246  elementary  schools,  three  manual  training  schools,  be- 
sides 167  institutions  in  which  manual  training  is  taught,  and  172  in 


132  CHICAGO : 


which  household  arts  are  taught,  and  136  have  kindergartens,  while 
fifty-six  have  gymnasiums.  There  are  three  centers  for  the  blind, 
twelve  for  the  deaf  and  two  for  crippled  children.  These  supply  ed- 
ucational discipline  for  the  children  who  come  from  homes  of  people 
who  can  spare  them  from  other  duties.  But  there  is  a  very  large 
class  which  requires  the  assistance  of  their  children  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  family.  For  such  there  are  evening  schools,  open  two 
hours  for  five  evenings  each  week  and  continue  for  eighteen  weeks, 
and  in  these  are  19,988  boys  and  girls.  In  addition  to  all  this  there 
are  vacation  schools,  for  five  weeks  in  July  and  August,  at  which 
the  attendance  is  about  6,000.  Any  child  over  14  years  of  age  is  per- 
mitted to  attend  the  evening  schools  and  may  graduate  as  from  the 
high  schools  upon  passing  the  required  examinations.  There  may  be 
cities  which  have  a  more  comprehensive  system  of  public  instruction 
than  Chicago,  but  if  so,  it  is  not  recorded.  In  addition  to  these  there 
are  a  large  number  of  parochial  schools  and  educational  institutions, 
besides  business,  law  and  medical  schools,  which  have  2,691  teachers 
and  94,538  pupils. 

The  result  of  these  numerous  public  instrumentalities  is  that  the 
last  school  census  of  Chicago,  taken  in  1910,  shows  that  of  the  children 
under  21  and  over  12  years  of  age  in  the  city,  the  number  of  those 
who  could  neither  read  nor  write  was  401,  and  the  causes  of  such 
illiteracy  were:  Indigence,  ill  health,  mental  weakness,  mutes,  idiotic 
and  insane,  and  other  causes.  Since  more  than  one-half  of  these 
children  in  the  public  schools  are  of  foreign  birth  or  parentage,  this 
exhibit  is  surprising,  as  it  indicates  the  avidity  with  which  the  offspring 
of  our  foreign  population  seize  upon  the  educational  advantages  of- 
fered them  and  also  why  it  is  that  they  are  so  readily  and  easily  as- 
similated with  the  native  population  of  the  country. 

One  effect  of  the  large  number  of  institutions  for  primary  educa- 
tion of  the  young  is  invariably  to  encourage  the  establishment  and 
endowment  of  colleges  and  universities  for  a  higher  and  broader 
academic  training  of  students  and  such  result  has  been  most  significant 
in  this  city. 

While  the  public  schools  in  their  number,  teaching  force,  pupils, 
etc.,  rank  with  the  highest,  in  point  of  population,  our  higher  institu- 
tions of  learning  place  the  city  far  in  advance  of  any  other  city  in  the 
country,  keeping  in  mind,  of  course,  that  Brooklyn,  with  a  population 
of  1,743,556  is  included  in  the  statistics  of  New  York,  which  has  a 
population  of  3,023,372. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  colleges  and  universities 
in  the  cities  named,  with  the  number  of  students  therein,  the  children 


ITS   ETHICAL  AND   EDUCATIONAL  ADVANTAGES. 


133 


of  school  age  and  the  number  of  pupils  in  the  public,  private  and 
night  schools : 

From  the  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  the 
year  1910. 


New  York .  .  .  . 

Chicago 

Philadelphia.  . 

St.  Louis 

Boston 

Baltimore 

Pittsburgh.  .  .  . 

Cleveland 

Buffalo 

San  Francisco. 

Detroit 

Cincinnati .  .  .  . 

Milwaukee 

New  Orleans .  . 
Washington. . . 


C 

and 
U 


Students 


12,938 

14,450 

7,792 

2,671 

6,7G9 

1,392 

1,486 

1,816 

400 

412 

299 

1,945 

1,098 

2,541 

4.290 


Children 

of  School 

Age 


1,518,192a 
647,612 

c 
195,966 
115,527 


c 

94,510 

74,729 

103,249 

81,334 

115,966 

104,338 


Pupils  In 


*Public 
Schools 


586,673 
243,471 
154,709 
67,908 
90,891 
55,011 
44,650 
58,514 
47,250 
34,383 
43,052 
35,639 
37,572 
29,095 
44,627 


a  Private 
Schools 


115,617 
103,255 
50,000 
30,000 
18,082 
25,000 

c 
26,569 
23,846 
10,030 
20,079 
18,200 
24,182 
30,000 
6,000 


6  Night 
Schools 


109,656 
19,988 
9,852 
7,634 
19,856 
9,024 
3,654 
7,660 
7,874 
7,057 
3,938 
5,635 
1,697 
4,635 
4,274 


*  Average  daily  attendance. 
a  Largely  estimated. 
6  Not  in  day  schools. 
c  No  data. 

Unquestionably  at  the  head  of  our  higher  institutions  of  learning 
is  the  University  of  Chicago,  which  was  organized  in  1892,  and  now 
has  a  corps  of  teachers  numbering  334,  with  6,681  students  in  at- 
tendance. The  campus  embraces  95  acres,  which  cost  $4,217,000, 
and  contains  31  buildings,  arranged  on  the  plan  of  the  English  uni- 
versities. These  buildings  cost  approximately  $5,000,000,  and  several 
more  are  to  be  added,  including  the  Harper  Memorial  Library  build- 
ing, which  will  cost  $800,000.  The  University  has  a  productive  fund 
amounting  to  $15,070,903,  and  received  in  1908  from  tuition  benefac- 
tions and  incidental  charges,  $1,899,755.  The  institution  is  co-educa- 
tional, and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  campus  are  a  large  number  of  homes 
of  well-to-do  people  who  have  come  to  Chicago  to  give  their  chil- 
dren the  advantages  of  the  education  furnished  by  the  University, 
while  in  the  various  departments  may  be  found  students  from  nearly 
every  state  in  the  Union,  as  well  as  from  a  number  of  foreign  countries. 

The  Northwestern  University  is  entitled  to  recognition  for  its 
work  in  making  Chicago  the  educational  center  of  the  middle  west. 
While  its  campus  and  classical  departments  are  located  two  miles 
north  of  the  limits  of  the  city,  its  university  departments  are  within 


134  CHICAGO: 


the  municipal  area.  The  university  was  chartered  in  1851,  and  was 
opened  for  students  in  1855,  since  which  time  it  has  become  the 
largest  and  most  widely  known  of  any  of  the  educational  institutions 
in  America  under  the  control  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  denomina- 
tion. It  has  4,850  students,  with  a  united  faculty  of  358  instructors. 
Its  productive  funds  amount  to  $3,013,616;  its  endowment  funds, 
$4,277,773,  with  an  income  of  $1,070,052.  The  property  of  the  Uni- 
versity is  valued  at  $9,038,640. 

It  is  co-educational  in  its  work.  The  University  campus  is  located 
on  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  having  an  area  of  about  seventy-five 
acres.  Upon  it  are  the  College  of  Liberal  Arts;  the  College  of  Engi- 
neering; Garrett  Biblical  Institute;  the  Academy  and  the  School  of 
Oratory.  The  school  of  music  and  the  women's  dormitories,  three 
in  number,  are  situated  near  the  campus.  The  medical  school  and 
the  schools  of  law,  pharmacy,  dentistry  and  commerce  are  in  the  large 
University  building  at  the  corner  of  Lake  and  Dearborn  streets  in  the 
city  of  Chicago.  The  University  has  a  large  gymnasium  and  every 
other  requisite  for  a  complete  and  prosperous  educational  institution. 

The  Armour  Institute  of  Technology,  one  of  the  widely  known 
scientific  schools  of  the  United  States,  has  sixty-one  instructors  and 
1,405  students,  representing  thirty  states  and  twelve  foreign  countries. 
Its  departments  are  mechanical,  electric,  civil  and  chemical  engineer- 
ing; for  further  protection  engineering  and  architecture.  It  is  essen- 
tially a  college  of  engineering,  providing  courses  in  all  branches  of 
that  and  kindred  sciences.  Special  courses  are  offered  in  evening 
classes,  which  are  open  to  men  and  boys  who  are  employed  during  the 
day.    It  also  has  six  weeks'  summer  courses. 

Lewis  Institute  is  in  the  west  and  most  populous  division  of  the 
city,  located  at  West  Madison  and  Robey  streets.  It  is  a  polytechnic 
college  of  the  highest  rank,  teaching  mechanical  engineering,  mechan- 
ical arts,  liberal  arts  and  domestic  economy.  It  has  approximately 
2,000  students. 

Loyola  University  is  a  well  known  school  under  the  direction  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  With  it  is  connected  a  law  school,  one 
of  philosophy  and  social  science,  a  medical  college,  a  college  of  phar- 
macy and  a  school  of  engineering. 

For  the  student  of  natural  history  there  is  no  institution  in  the 
world  where  such  investigation  can  be  carried  on  in  a  wider  field  or 
with  a  larger  collection  of  subjects,  than  at  the  Field  Columbian  Mu- 
seum in  this  city.  This  museum  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  World's  Co- 
lumbian Exposition,  held  in  Chicago  in  1893,  and  occupies  the  Fine 


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ITS   ETHICAL  AND   EDUCATIONAL  ADVANTAGES.  135 

Arts  building  at  Jackson  Park,  a  structure  which  for  its  size  and  classic 
beauty  was  one  of  the  most  admired  structures  at  the  park.  The 
building  is  Greek  in  style  of  architecture  and  covers  nine  acres  of 
ground  fronting  the  lagoon. 

The  institution  was  founded  by  Marshall  Field,  whose  first  dona- 
tion to  it  was  $1,000,000,  which  was  followed  by  another  of  $430,000, 
which  was  augmented  later  by  other  donations  amounting  to  $500,- 
000.  Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Field  he  gave  the  institution  a  further 
sum  of  $8,000,000  with  which  to  erect  a  suitable  building  for  the  care 
of  the  exhibits,  as  the  Fine  Arts  building  was  not  erected  with  any 
idea  of  permanency  and  is  fast  falling  into  decay.  When  the  new 
building  is  completed  next  year  the  city  of  Chicago  has  pledged 
$100,000  annually  for  its  maintenance  and  the  carrying  forward  of 
the  purposes  of  the  founder. 

The  museum  is  divided  into  four  distinct  departments  of  natural 
history,  anthropology,  botany,  geology  and  zoology,  specimens  in  each 
of  which  have  been  collected  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  many 
of  them  being  arranged  in  glass  cases  for  the  convenience  of  sight- 
seers and  students.  Two  courses  of  free  lectures  are  given  at  the 
museum  each  year  by  experts  in  the  various  departments  of  learning 
covered  by  its  exhibits. 

In  the  departments  of  ethnology  of  North  America,  mineralogy  of 
the  world  and  botany,  the  museum  is  marvelously  rich  and  without  a 
rival.  As  to  the  number  of  specimens,  it  is  impossible  to  give  an  esti- 
mate, as  they  run  into  the  millions.  The  museum  has  a  library  of 
more  than  50,000  titles,  which  are  at  the  service  of  students  and  in- 
structors from  whatever  country  they  may  come,  who  are  at  all  times 
admitted  free  of  charge.  The  museum  is  open  to  sight-seers  free  on 
Saturdays  and  Sundays  of  each  week,  but  upon  other  days  an  ad- 
mission fee  of  25  cents  is  charged. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  go  into  full  details  regarding  special 
schools.  The  School  of  Art,  at  the  Art  Institute,  is  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  in  the  country.  In  addition  to  this  there  are  six  law 
schools,  five  theological  seminaries,  eight  medical  colleges,  three  dental 
schools,  two  schools  of  pharmacy,  two  veterinary  colleges,  twenty- 
two  business  colleges,  besides  other  technical  educational  institutes. 

Closely  allied  with  institutions  of  learning,  general  and  specific, 
are  libraries  and  other  facilities  for  gathering  information. 

There  are  in  this  city  more  than  100  libraries,  of  a  more  or  less 
public  nature,  of  which  some  sixty-five  are,  under  various  restrictions, 


136  CHICAGO: 


open  to  the  public.  Some  of  them  are  open  to  the  public  without  lim- 
itation, while  others  may  be  consulted  by  the  observance  of  special 
rules  governing  the  use  of  books.  These  public  and  semi-public  col- 
lections contain  more  than  1,463,000  bound  volumes.  In  popularity 
the  Public  Library  of  the  city  is  the  most  notable  of  all  its  collections. 
It  had  its  origin  in  the  donation  of  a  large  number  of  valuable  books 
by  H.  B.  M.  Queen  Victoria  immediately  following  the  disastrous 
conflagration  of  1871,  which  has  been  supplemented  by  extensive 
additions  made  by  the  city.  The  building  in  which  the  library  is 
housed  is  near  the  business  center  of  the  city  and  is  universally  rec- 
ognized as  being  one  of  the  finest  and  most  artistic  for  its  purposes  in 
the  country,  being  frequently  compared  by  strangers  with  the  Congres- 
sional Library  building  in  Washington.  It  is  a  massive  structure, 
built  of  blue  limestone,  in  1897,  and  is  Roman  classic  in  style  of  archi- 
tecture, costing  $2,125,000.  It  contains  110,000  square  feet  of  floor 
space  and  contains  over  350,000  bound  volumes  and  over  63,000 
unbound  pamphlets.  It  is  especially  rich  in  works  on  art,  history, 
biography,  travel  and  the  sciences.  Nineteen  branches  and  109 
delivery  stations  of  the  library  are  very  generally  distributed  through- 
out the  city  and  persons  in  the  residence  sections  can  apply  to  these 
branches  or  distributing  centers  for  books  and  have  them  delivered 
near  their  own  doors  the  same  day.  In  this  way  more  than  775,000 
volumes  are  circulated  annually.  Any  resident  of  the  city,  or  one 
residing  in  the  suburbs  but  doing  business  in  the  city,  can  draw  books 
free  of  charge.  The  Chicago  Public  Library  has  the  largest  circula- 
tion of  books  of  any  single  library  in  the  United  States  with  one 
exception. 

This  list  does  not  include  many  specific  collections  of  books  in  cir- 
culating (for  which  a  fee  is  charged),  club,  seminary,  law  school,  trav- 
eling, private  school,  settlement,  hospital,  government  department,  rail- 
way and  private  libraries. 

To  the  man  with  children  to  educate,  from  the  kindergarten 
through  any  of  the  higher  branches  of  study,  including  history,  the 
arts,  sciences  or  learned  professions,  there  is  no  place,  certainly  on 
the  American  continent,  where  these  branches  are  taught  or  studied 
with  greater  facility  than  in  Chicago. 


ITS  PLAN  FOR  A  NEW  CITY.  137 


XVI, 


Chicago — Its  Plan  for  a  New  City 

By  CHARLES  H.  WACKER 

Chairman  of  the  Chicago  Plan  Commission 

The  idea  of  creating  a  plan  to  govern  the  future  growth  of  the 
city  in  an  orderly,  systematic  way  to  make  Chicago  a  real  metropoli- 
tan city,  and  enable  her  to  retain  her  position  among  the  great  cities 
of  the  world,  was  an  outcome  of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition, 
held  in  Chicago  in  1893.  Credit  for  first  giving  publicity  to  this  idea  is 
due  to  Mr.  Franklin  Mac  Veagh,  now  Secretary  of  the  National  Treas- 
ury, who  in  1901  suggested  it  to  the  Commercial  Club  of  Chicago.  At 
almost  the  same  time  the  Merchants'  Club  of  Chicago  became  inter- 
ested in  the  subject  through  Mr.  Charles  D.  Norton,  its  president, 
and  Mr.  Frederic  A.  Delano.  Work  on  the  plan  was  formally  under- 
taken by  this  club  in  1903,  and  was  well  under  way  when  the  two 
clubs  were  merged  in  1907  under  the  name  of  the  former. 

The  ten  objects  of  the  Chicago  Plan,  in  detail,  are  as  follows: 

First:  To  direct  the  future  growth  of  our  city  in  an  orderly, 
symmetrical  and  systematic  way,  so  that  Chicago  may  attain  a  metro- 
politan character,  and  may  retain  her  position  among  the  great  cities 
of  the  world. 

Second :  To  educate  the  people  upon  the  importance  of  city  plan- 
ning and  demonstrate  to  them  that  city  planning  is  basic  for  and  co-re- 
lated with  better  conditions,  both  hygienic  and  aesthetic. 

Third:  To  adopt  a  scientifically  and  carefully  elaborated  plan, 
which  is  not  to  be  changed  in  its  essentials.  It  is  obvious  that  hygienic 
measures  must  keep  pace  with  the  increasing  erudition  resulting  from 
scientific  research,  and  that  prospective  growth  must  take  cognizance 
of  such  expedient  hygienic  and  philanthropic  advantages  and  necessi- 
ties as  changing  conditions  may  demand  in  the  future. 

Fourth :  To  provide  a  plan  for  the  whole  people,  and  particularly 
for  those  who  cannot  afford  to  go  elsewhere  in  search  of  recreation. 

Fifth :  To  reclaim  for  the  people  the  beautiful  shores  of  Lake 
Michigan,  and  provide  more  convenient  and  direct  transportation 
thereto,  and  in  this  way  make  our  city  more  healthful,  pleasant  and 
attractive. 

Sixth:  To  rearrange  the  streets  and  highways  where  that  is 
demanded  by  intolerable  conditions  of  congestion  or  inconvenience. 


138 


CHICAGO 


ITS  PLAN  FOR  A  NEW  CITY. 


Seventh:  To  provide,  along  proper  lines,  for  the  growth  of  the 
city,  park  areas,  small  parks,  playgrounds,  bathing  beaches,  recreation 
piers  and  boulevards. 

Eighth:  To  capitalize  our  luxuries,  our  conveniences  and  our 
attractiveness. 

Ninth:  To  convince  the  people  that  delay  will  make  the  execu- 
tion of  many  of  the  important  and  now  feasible  features  impossible, 
the  practical  impracticable,  the  possible  unattainable,  and  the  econom- 
ical extravagant. 

Tenth:  To  convince  the  people  that  aside  from  its  aesthetic  and 
hygienic  value,  the  development  of  our  city,  symmetrically  and  along 
well-placed  lines,  will  prove  an  actual  commercial  asset  of  incalculable 
value  to  every  citizen,  be  he  rich  or  poor,  and  that  we  cannot  longer 
afford  to  grow  in  the  present  haphazard,  disorderly  and  wasteful 
manner. 

In  1907  the  first  Plan  Committee  of  the  Commercial  Club  was 
organized  with  Mr.  Charles  D.  Norton  as  chairman  and  Mr.  Charles 
H.  Wacker  as  vice-chairman.  In  1909  Mr.  Norton  resigned  and  Mr. 
Charles  H.  Wacker  succeeded  him  as  chairman,  which  office  he  in 
turn  vacated  when  he  received  his  appointment  from  the  Mayor  of 
Chicago  as  permanent  chairman  of  the  Chicago  Plan  Commission. 

Daniel  H.  Burnham,  world-renowned  architect,  took  charge  of  the 
details  of  the  plan,  and  assisted  by  Mr.  Edward  H.  Bennett,  produced 
all  the  charts,  maps  and  drawings  necessary  for  carrying  out  the 
remodeling  and  development  of  the  city.  In  1908  these,  together  with 
an  explanatory  narrative  written  by  Mr.  Charles  Moore,  correspond- 
ing member  of  the  American  Institute  of  Architects,  were  arranged  in 
a  magnificent  volume  published  by  the  Commercial  Club. 

The  central  idea  out  of  which  the  Chicago  Plan  has  grown  is:  If 
Chicago  is  to  become  the  greatest  and  most  attractive  city  of  this 
continent,  its  development  and  improvement  should  be  guided  along 
certain  definite  and  prearranged  lines,  to  the  end  that  the  necessary 
expenditures  for  public  improvements  from  year  to  year  may  serve 
not  only  the  purpose  of  the  moment,  but  also  the  needs  of  the  future. 
The  plan  is  not  a  scheme  for  expending  millions  of  dollars  either  now 
or  in  the  near  future,  but  it  is  rather  a  comprehensive  suggestion  of 
what  may  be  accomplished  in  the  course  of  years — it  may  be  fifty,  it 
may  be  a  hundred — by  spending  in  conformity  with  a  well-defined  plan 
the  money  which  must  be  spent  from  time  to  time  on  permanent  public 
improvements.     Paris  has  been  made  the  world's  most  beautiful  city 


140  CHICAGO: 


because  she  has  followed  for  more  than  fifty  years  the  policy  of  mak- 
ing public  improvements  in  conformity  with  a  clearly  defined  plan. 
The  Chicago  Plan  is  in  conflict  with  no  other  plan  or  project  for  the 
industrial  or  commercial  development  of  Chicago. 

The  first  constructive  work  of  the  Chicago  Plan  Committee  is  to 
establish  several  circuits  of  existing  thoroughfares  and  to  improve 
them  so  that  traffic  can  move  freely  and  directly  throughout  the  center 
of  the  city.  The  first  circuit  is  the  quadrangle  formed  by  Twelfth 
Street  on  the  south,  Halsted  Street  on  the  v/est,  Chicago  Avenue  on 
the  north  and  Michigan  Avenue  on  the  east.  These  four  streets  are 
destined  to  bear  the  heaviest  traffic  of  any  streets  in  Chicago. 

Twelfth  Street  from  Ashland  Avenue  to  State  Street  is  at  pres- 
ent 66  feet  wide  between  building  lines,  39  feet  wide  between  side- 
walk curbs,  and  only  9  feet  and  9  inches  wide  between  the  street  car 
step  and  the  curb.  From  State  Street  to  Michigan  Avenue  the  blocks 
are  only  fifty  feet  wide.  The  necessity  for  the  improvement  of  this 
street  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  the  only  thoroughfare  between  Har- 
rison Street  and  Eighteenth  Street  connecting  the  West  Side  with  the 
downtown  district.  The  actual  heart  of  the  population  of  the  city 
today  is  a  little  north  of  the  corner  of  Twelfth  and  Halsted  Streets. 
Traffic  and  the  growth  of  the  city  are  gradually  moving  in  a  south- 
westerly direction.  Adequate  provision  must  be  made  for  a  suitable 
outlet  from  that  district  to  the  present  business  center  of  the  city. 

It  is  proposed  to  make  the  street  108  feet  wide  from  Ashland 
Avenue  to  Canal  Street,  taking  a  42-foot  strip  oflf  from  the  lots  on  the 
south  side  of  the  street.  It  is  to  be  widened  to  118  feet  from  Canal 
Street  to  Michigan  Avenue.  It  is  not  intended  to  boulevard  the 
street,  but  to  make  it  a  clean,  wide  business  thoroughfare,  with  a 
double,  rapid  transit  surface  street  car  line  down  the  center.  On 
November  16,  1909,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Chicago  Plan 
Commission  appointed  a  special  Twelfth  Street  Committee,  whose 
mission  it  was  to  investigate  and  report  on  the  entire  matter.  On 
January  19,  1910,  the  Executive  Committee  received  and  adopted  the 
report. 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1911,  the  City  Council  adopted  an  ordinance 
for  widening  Twelfth  Street,  the  bridge  across  the  river  to  conform  to 
the  width  of  the  street.  The  Sanitary  District  will  pay  one-half  the 
cost  of  the  new  bridge  and  the  city  will  pay  the  other  half,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  action  of  the  City  Council,  which  recently  passed  the 
necessary  ordinance  without  a  single  negative  vote.     The  city's  half 


ITS  PLAN  FOR  A  NEW  CITY.  141 

of  the  cost  was  included  in  the  bond  issue  carried  at  the  recent 
election. 

In  accordance  with  an  action  of  the  City  Council  July  10,  1911, 
the  chairman  of  the  Commission  submitted  a  report  to  that  body  on 
September  25th  covering  the  Commission's  ideas  for  the  treatment  of 
the  lake  shore,  relating  to  the  creation  of  a  large  additional  park  space 
along  the  city's  water  front  by  the  utilization  of  Chicago's  vast  amount 
of  waste  and  excavated  material.  In  it  is  shown  the  folly  of  the  city 
in  spending  $60,000,000  in  constructing  the  Drainage  Canal  for  the 
purpose  of  purifying  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  and  then  allowing 
these  waters  to  be  again  polluted  by  the  dumping  therein  of  the  city's 
offal. 

It  was  also  shown  how  much  could  be  saved  in  the  expense  of  dis- 
posing of  this  waste  material,  and  at  the  same  time  build  land  of 
incalculable  value  to  the  city  and  with  little  or  no  cost  to  the  taxpay- 
ers. The  park  area  of  Chicago  is  today  entirely  out  of  proportion  to 
the  population  of  the  city  and  is  therefore  inadequate.  For  health 
and  good  order  there  should  be  one  acre  of  park  space  for  each  100 
people.  Our  present  average  for  the  entire  city  is  about  780  persons 
to  the  acre,  and  in  the  congested  sections  there  are  nearly  5,000  per- 
sons to  each  acre  of  park  space.  Figured  on  a  basis  of  density  of 
population,  Chicago  today  occupies  the  thirty-seventh  place  among 
American  cities,  while  thirty  years  ago  it  occupied  second  place.  Only 
by  the  development  of  the  lake  front  can  Chicago  acquire  adequate 
park  space.  If  the  greatly  needed  additional  park  area  can  so  be 
created  and  practically  at  no  cost,  why  should  not  this  work  be  begun 
at  once  ? 

On  July  6,  1911,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Plan  Commis- 
sion unanimously  adopted  Plan  No.  3  for  the  completion  of  the  "boule- 
vard link."  This  provides  for  a  two-level  street  from  building  line 
to  building  line,  to  extend  from  Randolph  Street  to  Ohio  Street. 
Michigan  Avenue  is  to  be  widened  from  66  to  134  feet,  64  feet  to 
be  taken  from  the  east  side  of  Michigan  avenue  from  Randolph 
Street  north  to  the  river,  terminating  in  a  plaza  approximately  250 
feet  wide.  North  of  the  river  the  plan  provides  for  the  widening  of 
Pine  Street  to  146  feet  by  taking  the  necessary  land  from  the  west 
side  of  the  street,  from  Chicago  Avenue  to  the  river,  terminating  in  a 
plaza  approximately  250  feet  wide  on  the  north  side  of  the  river. 

The  grade  of  the  street  from  Randolph  to  Lake  Street  is  to  be  2.7 
per  cent,  from  Ohio  to  Indiana  3  per  cent,  and  the  distance  between 
these  two  points  is  to  be  practically  level,  with  a  double-deck  bridge 


142  CHICAGO 


over  the  river.  Approaches  to  lower  deck  for  teaming  to  be  2.5  per 
cent  south  of  the  river  and  3  per  cent  north  of  the  river,  instead  of 
approximately  5  per  cent  as  at  present.  For  the  new  street  the  plan 
provides,  south  of  the  river,  for  an  east  sidewalk  25  feet  wide,  road 
75  feet  wide  and  west  sidewalk  30  feet  wide.  North  of  the  river 
there  will  be  a  central  parkway  26  feet  wide  and  two  roadways,  each 
32j^  feet  wide,  with  sidewalks  25  feet  wide.  Stairways  to  be  placed 
for  access  to  the  upper  street  at  river  abutments  north  and  south  and 
at  Indiana,  Illinois,  South  Water  and  Lake  Streets.  This  plan  was 
approved  and  submitted  for  ratification  at  a  meeting  held  July  10, 
1911,  and  was  unanimously  adopted.  There  was  a  public  hearing  by 
the  Board  of  Local  Improvements,  held  July  12,  1911,  at  which  time 
the  Board  ordered  an  estimate  to  be  made  on  Plan  No.  3. 

In  1911  the  work  of  the  Chicago  Plan  Commission,  aided  by  the 
continued  active  support  of  the  Commercial  Club,  received  material 
advancement.  The  support  of  the  Hon.  Carter  H.  Harrison,  Mayor, 
and  the  City  Council,  following  the  administration  of  his  predecessor, 
established  the  work  of  the  Chicago  Plan  Commission  upon  a  non- 
partisan and  non-political  foundation 

The  City  Council,  under  Mayor  Busse's  administration,  created 
the  Plan  Commission  and  started  the  work  in  the  passage  of  an  ordi- 
nance for  the  widening  and  improvement  of  Twelfth  Street  from 
Ashland  to  Michigan  Avenue. 

The  Harrison  administration,  recognizing  the  city's  great  need  for 
an  improved  through  east  and  west  artery  between  Harrison  and 
Eighteenth  Streets,  immediately  took  over  the  contemplated  Twelfth 
Street  improvement,  upon  which  work  had  not  been  started,  with  a 
determination  to  carry  it  through  successfully  and  in  a  manner  satis- 
factory to  all  the  people. 

Thus  the  Plan  of  Chicago  originated,  and  thus  it  is  being  car- 
ried out. 


ITS  PLAN  FOR  A  NEW  CITY. 


143 


Manufacturing  Zone  of  Chicago. 


CIVIC-IN&USTRIAL  DIVISION 
tl  tk« 
CHKAOO  ASSOCIATION  OP  COMMEKCE 


More  than  $60,000,000  is  being  annually  expended 
in  industrial  enterprises  within  this  manufac- 
turing district. 

The  death  rate  of  Chicago  is  lower  than  any 
American  city  having  200.000  or  more-  in- 
habitants. 

Being  the  center  of  the  food  supply  of  the  country, 
the  cost  of  living  is  correspondingly  low. 

No  hills  to  make  the  transference  of  freight  un- 
usually  burdensome. 

Unlimited  water  and  electric  power  at  exceptionally 
low  rates. 

Longest  electric  subway  freight  railway  in  the  world. 

Rate  of  taxation  far  below  the  average  of  American 
cities. 


Sidetrack  facilities  are  easily  and 
secured. 


lly 


The  manufacturing  zone  is  large  and  sites 
are  abundant. 

Street  car  facilities  are  unequaled  by  any 
city  of  the  United  States. 

Banking  resources  are  larger,  in  pro- 
portion to  population,  than  in 
any  other  city  of  the  country. 

Best    transportation    facilities    of 
any  city   in  the  world;    40 
freight  handling  railroads, 
river  and  canals. 

Nearer  to  every  variety  of  raw 
material  than  any  other  city 
in  the  United  Sutes. 


No  extremes  of  temperature 
ever  cause  a  temporary  sus- 
pension of  indoor  labor. 

Annual    value    of    manu- 
factured   products, 
$1,250,000,000. 

Center  of  population  of 
the  United  States. 

Labor  abundant  and 
conditions  stable. 


For  additional  or  special  information  relative  to  Chicago  or  the  Manufactiiring 
Zone  of  Chicago,  write  W.  R.  Humphrey,  Industrial  Commissioner,  the  Chicago 
Association  of  Commerce,  10  South  La  Salle  St.,  Chicago. 


144 


CHICAGO. 


DISTRTCT    MJtI> 


OCSIONEO         BY 

W.  H.HUJyrPHHE^ 

INOUaTRIAL       COMMISSIONKIf 


A  copy  of  the  above  map,  size  15|  x  12  inches,  may  be  secured,  free  of  charge, 
on  application  to  the  Chicago  Association  of  Commerce,  10  South  La  Salle  Street, 
Chicago. 


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